Fifth AMDA team heads for Haiti: RN. Ruby Kaur Gill. St Paul's Vancouver joins

R.N. Ruby Gill of  Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)  has departed for AMDA Canada  to join the 5th AMDA Surgical relief team to work at Gonaives, Haiti. This new team is headed by Dr Esteban Foianinni of AMDA Bolivia, an orthopaedic surgeon.  Thus,as with  the previous team the work will  concentrate on orthopedic surgery though all medical / surgical cases will be also assisted where possible.
R.N. Martin Ward (B.C. Children's Hospital) and R.N. Kathleen Ward (Edmonton Alberta), who had been with the previous AMDA Columbia organized team returned very recently and were able to brief the new team as they departed.  A wide range of persons were treated and around 10 surgeries per day performed for all conditions though the majority were fractures. Sometime, not having sufficient orthopedic hardware the team had to improvise by making their own from what they could find. In addition a very kind, and timely donation from Dr Jim Scott & RN Paula Spicer of Georgia, USA who visited the team hugely assisted (and much gratitude is expressed for Dr Scott and Ms Spicer for this) 
All teams bring their own supplies.  On this occasion the AMDA Bolivia team is bringing some 500kg of surgical equipment and supplies which will be trucked in.  They enter Haiti by a long drive from Santo Domingo which is very slow on the Haitian side of the boarder as roads are in a poor state of repair.
R.N. Ruby Kaur Gill is British / Canadian of ethnic Punjabi background.  Although working in a different geographical location to the AMDA Canada / Rose Charities pediatric team headed by Dr Pargat Singh Bhurji she is thus the second medical professional from this particular Canadian community. Rose Charities and AMDA Canada have been hugely touched and  grateful for the incredible support from the Sikh community, not only in donations but also in generous offers to volunteer.  The logistical support of  CECI  www.ceci.ca has also been pivotal in enabling all teams to assist and both AMDA and Rose Charities are very grateful indeed to this remarkable organization.
Dr Bhurji's pediatric team are working flat out. There is a great shortage of pediatric staff as many were tragically killed in the quake and others have lost so much that they are completely occupied trying to survive.  The nursing school also lost several hundred students and trainers.
Other AMDA teams have or are working at St Marc's and Jimani (Domincan Repbublic very near Haitian border) and an AMDA International logistics group headed by Mr Nithian Veeruvagu is maintained in Santo Domingo for supply, communication and overall administration.