Four Corners medic team back from Haiti

DURANGO, Colo. (KREZ-KBIM) - They left with enthusiasm and a deep desire to help earthquake victims in Haiti. On Friday the 12 person aide group from the four corners organization Mission Outfitter returned shocked, overwhelmed and humbled.

“Almost like a tornado that had gone through and hit certain areas and then missed others, buildings that were completely collapsed, several stories pancaked on top of one another, probably still with bodies in it,” said Dr. Robert Desko, Medical Coordinator for the trip.

“To stop and think about the things I saw, they rock me, they shake the inner core,” added organizer Tom Redding.

“It’s a life changing, eye opening, inspiring experience,” Dr. Kelly Miller said.

For eight days the nine-person medical team worked around the clock, first in Port-au-Prince, then in Jeremie, a town transformed after the quake.

“We did 28 surgeries; we saw about 450 patients in clinic and dispensed about 800 prescriptions,” Desko said.

“They actually saved lives,” Redding said.

Even so, the team says their efforts didn’t even scratch the surface of what needs to be done.

“We were talking about that as a group, how much help they need and how many teams could go down and you'd still not be close to meeting the need,” Desko said.

Still Mission Outfitter, the organization that put this trip together is going to try.

“You walk away from the devastation and you see a tent city that's got 50,000 people living in mud under sheets and plastic tarps,” Redding said.

While the medical team was saving lives, Mission Organizers were seeking out ways to change them, using this as a scouting trip so they can bring teams back.

“You have people that are homeless, you have people that are jobless, people that are foodless, waterless,” Redding said. "It was overwhelming."

The experience was life-altering for the team and the Haitian people.

“Despite the sadness and the despair and the solitude you see in the faces and in talking with the people in Port-au-Prince and around Haiti, you also see some hope,” Miller said.

Mission Outfitter is planning to take more teams back to Haiti starting at the end of April.

Information on how to help or volunteer is available on the Mission Outfitter Web site.