Last Friday, the first group of the NYU Langone Medical Center Haitian Effort and Relief Team (NYULMC HEART) landed in Port-au-Prince to assist with the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and other staff members will be providing surgical services at the Haitian capital’s General Hospital. Dr. Fritz Francois, an Assistant Dean at NYU born and raised in Port-au-Prince, is blogging about the group’s experience on the HEART website.

Dr. Francois frequently describes the environment the team has had to work with (“repulsive scent of rotting flesh”) and a few of the procedures they have managed, including a childbirth with a severely injured mother. He also recounts an inspiring story of helping a man find his wife — “the nice one” at least — at the hospital, and even details a visit from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is also saving lives on national television.

According to their press release, the Medical Center is currently working on sending another team to Port-au-Prince later this week.

Here on campus, a university-wide vigil for Haitian victims will be held tomorrow in Gould Plaza at the exact two-week anniversary of the earthquake. Details after the jump.

NYU Vigil for Haiti: A Pledge to Rebuild
Join the NYU community on the 2-week anniversary of the earthquake,
Tuesday, 4:53 PM.
The vigil will take place at Gould Plaza, W. 4th Street and Greene Street
In Association with the Student Senators Council

If you’re interested on helping even more, see last week’s post about contributing to on-campus relief efforts.

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