Haiti Air Ambulance

Wishing all of the amazing Moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day from HAA!

Nearly a decade of on the ground experience in Haiti has allowed HAA to build incredible partnerships born out of trust and collaborative leadership. We’re grateful for those partners every day - especially those like our friends at CAN Centre Ambulancier National.

We’re always grateful to answer the call for our incredible partners across Haiti. 🇭🇹

Doctor Berly and Doctor Etienne organising baby Brahms to be evacuated by helicopter after his head started leaking spinal fluid post ETV and VP shunt surgery. We are SO BEYOND GRATEFUL to the incredible team at Haiti Air Ambulance… What would we do without you guys ⁉️ Thank you for always flying to la Gonâve when we need you urgently for our little patients… You save lives every single day and we are SO thankful for your work! 🙏🏾🇭🇹

Our ability to fly every day allows us to learn much more about the Haitian people and how to do our best. Thank you

We love working with Haiti Health Ministries!

Our mechanics definitely know how to take care of our little bird.

The majority of our job is saving lives…

There’s always hope… thank you Centre Ambulancier National - CAN

The Ground Air Medical qUality Transport (GAMUT™) Quality Improvement Collaborative is a data analytics platform for medical transport programs to track, report, and evaluate their performance on transport-specific quality metrics worldwide. Haiti Air Ambulance participates in this, entering 60 measurable patient care metrics on each patient encounter.

For 2021, 347 transport programs worldwide submitted comprehensive data. The analysis for all participants included data from 318,801 patient contacts during 2021. Only 22 of the data participants are outside the United States, and the majority of transport data was from rotor wing (helicopter) transports.

Of the data indicators with obtainable benchmarks, Haiti Air Ambulances' performance was equal to or better than the established benchmarks or functional averages in 92.9% of the 60 different measured fields. This is slightly better than the 91.8% average for all programs participating worldwide in 2021.

HAA is doing world class patient care, at or often above US clinical standards, as defined by the preeminent ongoing clinical collaborative study in the world. We will continually seek out ways to improve performance and care, and continue to provide increasing value to all Haitians, regardless of ability to pay.

https://www.gamutqi.org/index.html

Home: GAMUT Ground & Air Medical Quality in Transport Ground Air Medical qUality Transport (GAMUT™) Quality Improvement Collaborative is a data analytics platform for medical transport programs to track, report, and evaluate their performance on transport-specific quality metrics.

We are happy to be of assistance in this terrible tragedy. The teamwork between governmental, charity, and NGO organizations is what makes it work!

Safety First! You may have noticed the gray bags that are always on our landing skids. Those contain inflatable floats in the event we have to make a landing in the water due to a mechanical emergency. The pilot squeezes a lever and these pop out instantly.
Every 18 months our aircraft maintenance staff inflate them to make sure they are in working order. (No, we can not use these to intentionally land in the water; they are for serious mechanical failures only!)

We are so grateful to be able to provide service!

The donated Life Link III ambulance has made it to the port in Florida, awaiting it's boat ride to Haiti! Thank you so much again LifeLink III!

“It’s all kinds of these profound things crashing on you when babies arrives into the world. It’s like you’ve met your reason to live and to help them.”

When a medical crisis or disaster emerges, Haiti Air Ambulance is there 365 days a year to provide care to the people of Haiti.

Right now, Haiti needs your support more than ever, where access to healthcare faces growing threats from violence, instability, and the lasting impact of recent natural disasters.

The HAA team responds to urgent requests for emergency services daily. Your support will allow us to meet the critical needs of people across the country and directly save lives.

Please partner with us in advancing access to healthcare and saving lives by making a donation today at http://ow.ly/gGnp50IzNUG or Venmo your support

⭐Volunteer Spotlight⭐Meet Brock, one of HAA's newest clinical volunteers and a passionate advocate for advancing access to healthcare for the people of Haiti. Read on to learn more about Brock & you will see why our entire team can't wait until he returns.

Part 1/2

*What's your story?
"I was born and raised in Ohio, and then moved to North Dakota for my first flight job. I then promoted myself to ski bum and now reside in Salt Lake City, Utah. North Dakota and my clinical family in Minot still have a huge place in my heart. I owe a lot of my growth to my friends, leadership, and mentors back in Minot."

*What led you to a career in medicine and what attracted you to volunteering with HAA?
"I truly can’t remember a time where I wanted to do anything else. My parents are likely to blame; they continuously indulged my obsession with Rescue Heroes as a kid. This is my second time in Haiti; the first being last year when I came down with a few close friends to volunteer as part of a ground ambulance team. After that trip, I knew I needed to come back. I love being here and being involved in creating better health outcomes for the people of Haiti. The clinical challenges that exist in the country continues to be a pull for me to return as well. HAA stood out for me because of their emphasis on innovation and service mindset. The people, the medicine, and HAA’s drive towards creating positive impact will keep me involved here for as long as I’m able."

*What stood out most to you, clinically? Likeness, differences?
"The significant lack of resources is the stark difference, clinically. With 2 total CT machines in the country (and only 1 working), a handful of places who can produce labs, along with a few dialysis machines scattered throughout the country; we have stout limitations on what “definitive” care looks like. The value of a physical assessment, with a POCUS adjunct, cannot be overstated. Brock Jenkins

Meet Brock, Part 2!

*What best practice will you take back to your work in US?
"There is so much I’ve learned here, both clinically and personally. Clinically, physical assessment skills would be the easiest way to describe what I would bring back to the United States. We have a lot of resources in the US so it is very easy for us to become lazy with our assessment skills. In my opinion, the clinicians here have arguably the best physical assessment skills in the world. Personally, the change in perspective was a lesson within itself. I believe as humans, Americans especially, we become numb to our own normality. When we stray from our baseline of comfortability, we become uncomfortable, naturally. However recognizing this inherent bias I believe is the key to true empathy."

*Which experience while volunteering with HAA was the most memorable for you?
"My most memorable experience would be a patient contact that we had. We responded by helicopter to a very sick patient, rendezvousing at a remote airport. Doing our exam on a taxi way about 50 yards across from an abandoned, previously crashed airplane; we were able to recognize a pericardial tamponade with ultrasound that was in need of emergent pericardiocentesis. Due to the urgency of the situation, our team decided to do a field pericardiocentesis where we placed a needle into her heart to aspirate the fluid that was rapidly killing her. Had we not intervened, she likely would not have survived."

*What’s one thing you wish people knew about Haiti?
"Simply, the heart and the resilience of the Haitian people. Bearing witness to that is a privilege I will forever be grateful to have experienced."

Our first April flight this morning…

We were meant to rescue each other…

Every day, we are humbled to work with a team of talented, dedicated doctors here in Haiti.

Thank you for answering the call to serve, Dr. Mimi, Dr. Jacotin, and Dr. Dumerjuste!

Some heroes wear flight suits.

It’s lights, camera, action at the HAA base today. We can’t wait to share what we’re working on! 🎥🎬

Amazing day!

We fly all over the country. For example this patient who had a stroke coming from the South (Les Cayes). He was urgently transferred to Port-au-Prince to take the necessary care. Thanks to the Croix-rouge Haitienne for its support.

✨Staff Spotlight✨ Meet Delette , volunteer turned HAA staff member AKA Baby Whisperer and Texan. Read on to get to know Delette and find out her secret to making all the babies fall madly in love with her.

The Story:

In 2002, Delette graduated with her BSN and spent the next 8 years working in the Emergency Department and ICU for Texas Health Resources. In 2009, she began flying air medical with Air-Evac Lifeteam and did so until she retired in 2021. Delette is not the sort of gal to sit around, though, so she started volunteering with HAA in 2015. Finally, in June 2021, HAA Executive Director David Ellis, snapped up his chance to bring her on as a FT flight nurse. Of the experience in Haiti, Delette says "I love this country and the people. I am honored every day I get to do this work alongside amazing colleagues and volunteers. It is just a wonderful thing to be a part of providing necessary resources and care to people who otherwise would not have access to either".

Favorite Hobbies :

When Delette is not working at HAA, she works part time at a rural ED (she has more energy than most 5 year olds, seriously). She loves to spend time with her husband, dogs, and grandkids. There's more. She also runs, masters jigsaw puzzles, and hunts for treasures while "junking".

Baby Whispering Tip:

"Remember that stress is contagious and children are intuitive creatures. We meet a lot of children who are ill, injured or dealing with the effects of malnutrition, so their systems are already stressed. The key is to stay calm, close and connected. If you can do that, the baby has a safe place in you."

Good morning from Haiti

Not a bad view for the HAA crew as they made their descent to help a guest in need of medical attention at Labadee.

The work can’t stop. They need us… thank you to Croix-rouge Haitienne for they support

⭐Meet the crew⭐First up in our staff spotlight series is HAA's Communications Manager, Schamma Delva!

*What's your story?

I was born and raised in Haiti. I've worked in aviation throughout my career. I have 8 years of experience in fixed wings operations as Compliance Coordinator for one of the major airlines operating in Haiti, and 5 years of experience in rotary wings operations. In my free time, I like to travel, read, garden, do DIY projects and write- but most of all, I love spending time with my family.

*What would our team say about you?

I am determined. I really do not and cannot give up until I get the result needed.

*Which experience with HAA has been the most memorable?

Responding to mass casualty. We responded to the earthquake that occurred on the south last year. What stood out to me the most is the fact that if we were not there, the outcome for a lot of people would have been totally different. Being there serving the Haitian people meant a lot to me. It is difficult to choose. Every day, we do something that saves lives.

*Why do you love what you do?

My motivation comes from the fact that going to work every day makes a difference in someone’s life. I can wake up every day knowing that somehow today, someone’s life will change because of what we do at HAA.

Emergency is the priority…

We can't wait to hear from Kelly Edwards of Haiti Air Ambulance discuss the pathology, presentation, and management of protein-energy malnutrition disorders in children at ECHO Austin! If you haven't registered yet, don't wait! Space is filling up fast. Register at echoflightcrew.org/austin

There's no better way to celebrate International Women's Day than watching some of the amazing women of HAA work together to save this little girl's life. Happy International Women's Day to all the strong, innovative and empowering women out there!