By JIMENITA SWAIN

Guardian Senior Reporter

jimenita@nasguard.com

NASSAU — The medical relief team dispatched from The Bahamas to Haiti treated 1,500 patients during their five-day trip, the group revealed in a recent interview with The Guardian.

"We saw about 281 patients, the most done in a given day," said registered nurse Tsia Bellot. "There were normal days that (other rotations) saw about 212 or about 210, but we went over the limit," said Bellot.

The team consisted of two doctors and four nurses who worked in a makeshift hospital called Behnard Mers in the capital, and also dispensed care under trees in the rural villages of Leogane, an area 40 miles west of Port-au-Prince.

Prior to arriving in the earthquake-ravaged country the medical team explained that only 32 percent of patients in the villages of Leogane were able to access treatment, but after the arrival of The Bahamas' team rotation, the number being treated jumped to 68 percent.

From New Providence the team went to Jamaica where there were briefed by CARICOM and Jamaica Ministry of Health officials on what to expect in Haiti.

"CARICOM provided acc-ommodations for us with the Jamaican Defence Force," explained Dr. Madeleine Joseph, a senior house officer in internal medicine at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

"They had two separate tents reserved for medical personnel with cots. It was okay. The medical relief team was comprised of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, administrators in Haiti, public health inspectors, human resource managers, orthopaedic technicians, all from various CARICOM nations."

Jamaica spearheaded the CARICOM relief mission, providing medical and security personnel.

Dr. Joseph explained that much of the need for medical assistance was in Port-au-Prince, therefore the rural areas were somewhat neglected.

She said patients required treatment for ailments that included infections, rashes, malaria and acute gastroenteritis.

Officers from the Jamaica Defence Force and United Nations soldiers also scouted the villages in Leogane to ensure they were safe for medical officials and patients, she said.

"I attended outreach in the rural areas. We couldn't practice medicine in any of the buildings. All the buildings were cracked and condemned, so maybe under a mango tree everyday, (or) in a school yard I would see about 50 to 60 patients myself out of a total number of almost 300. The simple things, we would see a ring worm in Nassau, but the worst ring worm you could see, I saw in Haiti. Every four people had malaria," she said.

In addition there were people with fractured limbs who were never able to get to the capital for treatment, which meant the limbs were healing crooked, she said. "It was just heartbreaking. As we would approach the villages the people would say in Creole, here comes hope. The soldiers bring hope. It was heartbreaking, but the trip was really worth it."

She said it was her first time as a member of a medical relief team on a disaster mission.

Dr. Joseph said she was born in The Bahamas, but lived in Haiti for about nine years.

"What struck me the most (was) the amount of despair and poverty that you saw... the crumbled buildings, (but) the people were still smiling. The people were happier than I was, I was very much near tears," she said.

"We realized after a few more hours that the Haitian people have been in such despair for so long that the earthquake was just one more bad thing," she said.

"Every day was fulfilling, I felt like I had done something," said Dr. Joseph who admitted that she was hurt when she thought about the probability that there would be no follow-up visits.

Registered nurses Tsia Bethel and Jacqueline Jean Louis also said the trip was an unforgettable experience.

Ampusam Symonette, a senior nursing officer with specialty in mid-wifery, said she saw the trip as an opportunity to help.

"It felt as if it was right to go and do something," said Symonette. Leaving Port-au-Prince in an army plane after her rotation and headed for Jamaica she said, "I felt a deep sense of, like I didn't do enough. I felt I did, but I still feel we that we shouldn't forget Haiti just because we've been to help."

She said she will continue to lobby for aid and assistance for Haiti. "They have been through catastrophe after catastrophe They are a people ready for you to take a hand and show them how to walk the journey of development. (The) journey of industrialization." she said.

Dr. Vantario Taylor, a senior house physician in the department of public surgery, said he spent most of his time as one of the physicians at the Behnard Mers Hospital.

The facility had once functioned as a private hospital and was now being used to treat patients, as all other facilities had been destroyed, he explained.