AN AIR AMBULANCE FOR HAITI?

by Mike Davenport

Children at La Source with markers for the runway

While in Haiti in 2011 I had an invitation to visit the isolated village of Medor located in the central mountains of Haiti east of the Artibonite river valley. This is the village profiled by NBC’s Dateline in January of 2011 when Remote Area Medical (RAM) of Knoxville, Tennessee built a runway to support an air ambulance service for the area. Stan Brock, who is the founder of RAM along with Col. Dick Stoops (Retired), led the American team who jumped in to build the 1400 ft. airstrip. The runway is intended to be used by a short field aircraft and donated by RAM. Port au Prince is only 28 nautical miles and15 minutes by air but ground travel is prohibitive as it includes an 11 hour trip by mule, 4x4 and bus. Not really a solution for someone who is seriously ill and has little or no ability to pay for transportation. Medor has been the center of attention for an Arlington, Virginia church; Our Lady Queen of Peace for the past 13 years. During that time, they have supported the building of a church, primary and secondary school, and a clinic. They are also involved in ongoing efforts to provide clean water, sanitation and a reforestation project.

The Haitian fixer for this trip was William Destin, a man who claimed connections with OFNAC, (Office national de l’Aviation Civile) the Haitian aviation authority. He was contracted by Stan to install the runway markers and do a survey of the site to determine what work might be required in order to get it ready for the government inspection. A crew from the US would come in January and do the actual work. A young man, known simply as Vee came along as our guide and my translator. Vee had worked for the Dateline crew and has extensive knowledge of the area and the people and lives in Macdonald, a village near the port city of St. Marc.

We planned to leave Macdonald very early in order to get the work done on the first day but “Mr. William” did not arrive until 9AM instead of the planned 6 AM. He then had to buy some supplies in St Marc which meant that we didn’t get on the road until well after 10. The trip included a 1 hour car ride from St Marc to Petite Riviere, a  rough 1½ hour drive in a 4x4 from there to La Source followed by a 3 ½ hour hike through the mountains to the village. The roads from Petite Riviere to Medor are incredibly bad, just tracks over the mountains that are covered with loose rock and are heavily rutted and pot holed. Streams have to be forded in several spots and a 4 wheel-drive is required for the steep grades on most hills. At La Source the road was completely blocked by two large landslides and several washouts that occurred during last year’s rainy season. Here we were met by a man from Medor with a mule. The mule was intended for our gear but was also ridden by Mr. William who claimed a history of heart problems. The 18 metal runway markers would be hand carried over the mountain early the next morning by some of the children from La Source.

Note the trail we had walked - both ways

After 3 ½ hours of hard hiking over the mountain trails in 90 degree heat, we arrived in the village where we met Father Luckson, the parish priest and spiritual leader of the community. Father Luckson speaks only Creole and French so Vee’s translation skills were put to use. The priest provided us with dinner that night and breakfast the next day as well as a bed for the night.

School buildings at Medor

The two bedrooms in the rectory each had 4 beds with a thin mattress and a single cotton sheet. William and Vee took one room and I took the other. The bathroom was just next door and looked reasonably clean but smelled bad. Overnight, it cooled off a lot and while I don’t know the actual temperature, it felt quite cold and a blanket would have been a welcome addition.

We were up and moving around by 6:30 looking for coffee and breakfast to find that the children had already arrived from La Source, each carrying one of the 18 pound steel  runway markers. They left La Source at 4 AM in order to avoid the heat later in the morning walking the same trail where we had expended so much effort the day before.

Breakfast, courtesy of Father Luckson consisted of very sweet, thick and strong local coffee and a huge plate of spaghetti with lots of ketchup and hot sauce. I rarely eat spaghetti for breakfast but when that is likely to be the only meal that day, well, one adjusts. Some delicious fresh juice that I couldn’t identify rounded out the meal.

We completed the survey of the runway and the installation of markers by 11:00 and left for La Source at noon. Walking out to La Source took only 2 ½ hours as it was mostly downhill. The ride from La Source to Petit Riviere seemed even rougher than the ride in, probably because we were tired and hungry. We arrived home in St Marc just after dark.

Morning in Medor

The goals for the trip were achieved: The runway was surveyed, properly marked and appeared serviceable.  All was reported back to Stan Brock at RAM. I was pleased that I had a chance to see the site and meet Father Luckson. This was important as I was to be the initial pilot of the air ambulance and would need the good Father’s help throughout my proposed three month stay.

A year later in October of 2012 no progress had been made on obtaining the required permission to use the strip.  I was in Port au Prince on other business and took the opportunity to set up an appointment to meet with the chief safety officer of OFNAC and follow up on the request for the approvals The airstrip has been properly marked and a crew from the US had been in Medor to make further improvements and yet approval still has not been received. I was advised by M. Dumas that more approvals had to be obtained both locally in Medor and nationally from the Minister of the Interior. Before the letters could be obtained the country’s Prime Minister fired the Minister of the Interior and appointed a new one, resetting the clock on the process. To date in late 2014, still no approvals have been obtained though there is a suggestion that approval may granted in the spring of 2015. The strip has been overgrown and patients still have a long arduous trip by ground for medical services. To paraphrase Tracy Kidder, Haiti is a land where there definitely are Mountains beyond Mountain