In the wake of a series of devastating earthquakes in Haiti, four clinicians from the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx took part in the rescue efforts.

The team was made up of nurse Rachael Jones; Dr. Dominique Jan, chief of pediatric surgery; Dr. Alexandra Bastien, an anesthesiologist; and Lynoid Wallerson, a trauma technician. Upon arriving at the Lambert Clinic in Pétionville, Haiti, the four joined with the non-profit organization, Surgeons of Hope. 

The team left Kennedy Airport for the Dominican Republic and arrived in Pétionville by U.S. Army airlift on the Monday following the earthquake. Carrying their own supplies, they set up shop at the Lambert Clinic.

Designed specifically to stand the shock of an earthquake, it was one of the few hospitals left available to care for the masses of patients lining up for immediate treatment. Despite the crowds of sick and injured Haitians, Bastien said he was impressed by the organization of the medical care efforts.

“There were tents outside the clinic, used for post-operative patients,” Bastien said. “Scores of people were waiting to be seen. Remarkably, it was not pandemonium.”

Supplies were in abundance, Bastien said. When Montefiore’s team ran out of their own, they were quickly replaced by the supplies brought in by other countries’ medical teams making their way through.

Nurses were in short supply, however, and the doctors recruited family members to remain vigilant of the patients’ condition.

During the first week, the doctors treated the most urgent of cases. Jan remorsefully compared the operations to “war surgery,” and was well aware that their stay would encompass mainly temporary treatment until more help arrived.

Jan and Bastien expressed their amazement and optimism about the widespread aid that Haiti has received. “This is the first time I’ve seen so many countries from all around the world join to help a country,” Bastien said. “We met people from Japan, China, Israel, the USA, Europe, South America – the whole world came to help Haiti. I can’t imagine that the help will stop.”