I Want to Go To Haiti

Does anyone else feel this way?
SO helpless while watching what is going on?
I am only CNA with no passport and no experience in disaster zones, but I feel I could be a help. The docs and nurses are running 24/7 with all the wounded. Just keeping up with basic needs like getting them to the toilet (aka the ground outside) or cleaning them if they can't, feeding, ( if there is food) tending to dressing wounds, just giving a hand to hold, if the person still has hands.
I can do all that. I can deal with stink of the dead in the buildings around me, and I can deal with fear, I can deal with sad hard cold death. What I cant deal with is seeing all these people going without the most basic of medical care.

You may be able to contact local red crosses or churches and see if you would be able to go with them on a mission trip if they are going. Or maybe the red cross can help you get in touch with someone to go.
If you have the means to and you feel its the right thing to do, I'm sure they would appreciate all the help they can get!

Unfortunately, without a passport you won't be able to do anything.

I wished I could go too - I am a trained CNA and phlebotomist (though still don't have that license), and I have done rescue training for both animals and people, but being pregnant, I really can't do anything. If it had have been 6 months ago, I would be finding a way to get my butt down there.

Have you tried contacting Doctors Without Borders and the American Red Cross? They may be able to advise you!

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/index.cfm
http://www.redcross.org/
(There are also many other orginazations sending out medical professionals to Haiti now too, but those were just the first two that poped into my head! If you can't physically go, I'm sure you could contact different orginazations and see if they need help collecting donations to ship out, or maybe you could donate a few $ if you have some to spare. If you decide to donate, definitely research the orginazation and make sure that they are reputable first.)

I understand exactly how you feel! I've been watching CNN's coverage constantly. I want to help soo badly too, but I won't graduate for a while. I wish I was already lisenced and could go there right now. I keep telling myself it's motivation to finish school though- there will always be tragic events like this unfortunately. I may not be able to physically go to Haiti right now, but there will always be another "Haiti" in the future and people will always need help. I keep telling myself that graduating will allow me the chance to get a good job and to also volunteer and give back when another event like this occurs in the future.

Believe me on this deal--you do NOT want to go to Haiti. Not even in the best of times.

The news this morning is that one of the American medical groups was doing full-time surgery for several days, until they ran out of supplies...because their relief convoy, with necessary medical supplies, was hijacked.

I would have to agree with mrblanche. It is becoming very dangerous there. Riots are breaking out. The prisons have been destroyed so all the criminals are loose. Its not worth loosing your life.

You have great intentions, but IMO, it is just not safe. Going to help during a hurricane or tornado here in the USA makes more sense to me. The people suffer just as much and you wouldn't be putting your precious life at risk.

Interesting article about volunteers and donations and how sometimes they are more of a problem than a help.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34958965...ti_earthquake/

I understand exactly what you are saying hun, I feel useless too and would love to help but it is dangerous over there. On our news earlier there was a thing about a man who has gone over to help but he said it is very hard, no proper facilities and its just heartbreaking and yes dangerous. I just think its fantastic that you feel this way though, it shows what a wonderful, caring person you are. x

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

Interesting article about volunteers and donations and how sometimes they are more of a problem than a help.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34958965...ti_earthquake/

Click to expand...

That's very informative. The NYT also has one on misguided donations:
Teaching Americans What Haiti Needs: Money

That's one of the things I learnt when I was training to be part of the Humane Society's Disaster Animal Response Team. There were so many well meaning people after Hurricane Katrina, but the giving was making it harder for them. People were sending bags of pet food (often already opened food), but they had nowhere to store it, and definitely nowhere completely dry to store it. Not only that but we all know how hard it is on a animal's digestive system to be given different foods all the time. HSUS has an agreement with food manufacturer's so they can get a heap of the same food, litter and all those things so the animals can have some routine while under their care.

People want to volunteer, but they don't know the ICS (Incident Command System), which is the system all organisations use in a disaster to keep things under control and know who's responsible for what. They don't know the hazards to be careful of, they are not trained in search and rescue, or basic medical care in a disaster situation which is completely different.

What can the average person do if they feel helpless? SEND MONEY! That helps the organisations get the resources they NEED in place, and ready to be deployed at a moment's notice, it allows them to train appropriate people. Can't afford to send money? In the US, you can become a CERT member - that's Community Emergency Response Team. http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/ It's a program supported by FEMA, and is part of Citizen Corps, and is aimed at the average person so they can help in disaster situations in their area if the need should arrive. Through that, with the appropriate training, you could probably find a way to be trained for larger scale disasters so you can help in events like Haiti.

You need to be prepared before a disaster strikes though because when it comes to manpower, they need properly trained people immediately, not people who are likely to become part of the problem because they are in over their heads.

I have an urge to be there to help people too, but I think the best way I can help is to donate money. So I did... to Doctors-Without-Borders.

Hubby and I did our donation to Doctors without Borders too, they do great stuff worldwide.

ShelterBox is another good place to donate.

For the US: www.shelterboxusa.org
Canada: http://www.shelterbox.ca/

Join CERT, and/or start small with the Red Cross. Neither CERT, nor Red Cross would send you go any disaster area without their extensive training. The trainings are for your safety as well as the benefit of those you would serve. What I liked about the Red Cross was that the trainings were all free, you get plenty of certifications, and you get good, local experience helping people in need. The Red Cross would probably start you out on a Disaster Action Team, which acts locally, in the case of house fires and the like. It is a very rewarding volunteer activity. You get to assist family members who have just lost their home to a fire, fire fighters who are fighting said fires, and really make a direct difference. As you move through the ranks you can be called out to larger disaster type situations. CERT is just fantastic. I know a chaplain who is a member and he has been everywhere from Katrina to Andrew. Major disasters should never be responded to by people without expensive experience, but the good news is you can get the experience through CERT and the Red Cross locally!