Local medical team heads to Haiti

When Don Turner and the Camano Chapel medical missions team left for Cap- Haitien, Haiti, on Monday morning, they carried along with them the usual supplies, extra antibiotics and the knowledge that they didn’t

medical know exactly what they were getting into.

They carried plan B.

“After the earthquake, we revaluated the medications and supplies we’d be taking,” Turner said. “We’re looking at treating a lot more secondary infections than we have in the past.”

Turner said the group also expects to be called upon to medical team re-clean wounds and treat a minimal number of trauma victims, but nothing is certain.

Another uncertainty is where the treatments will take place.

The medical teams normally work out of churches in the outlying areas, but that’s probably going to change. The group is now planning on team heads being as close as possible to Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s secondlargest city. Here, they feel they can be most influential.

“Cap-Haitian is about 100 miles from Port-au-Prince, where the earthquake struck,” Turner said, “and there’s a mountain pass between the two.”

Even so, busloads of people have already been making heads to their way to Cap-Haitien, and more continue to stream in, Turner said.

“There’s been an influx of people seeking help,” Turner said.

“Help” is why Turner and the others are there.

The medical missions trip is being documented on two blogs. One is available Haiti at http://www.camanochapelmissions. org. Click on “Missions Trip Updates” at the top of the page. A second blog is available from the site in Haiti, and can be read at http://www.davisinhaiti. blogspot.com.

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews.com.