Medical services in Haiti ‘overwhelmed’ by quake

GENEVA - A medical aid organisation said Thursday that its teams in Haiti were overwhelmed by the number of injured from the devastating earthquake that are now seeking help.

At least eight major medical facilities in Haiti were damaged or destroyed in the quake, the World Health Organisation reported, and medical groups were setting up makeshift tent-clinics to treat the wounded.

“The main concern at the moment from the medical staff in those clinics is that the need for wound treatment and major surgery is overwhelming,” Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without

Borders) said in a situation update report.

Food, water, gasoline and shelter materials were all in short supply, MSF said.

The medical group has managed to get one flight into Port-au-Prince, with doctors, food and medicine.

Logistics in delivering aid were a major problem in Haiti, United Nations officials and aid workers said. The airport in the capital was partially functioning, but sea ports were damaged.

UN peacekeepers had begun to clear major roads, to facilitate the transport of humanitarian supplies and heavy machinery, officials said.

MSF said some of its local staff members remained unaccounted for.

The UN was still searching for over 100 of its staff in Haiti.