Haiti Medical Crisis: Only 15 Hospitals nationwide have an Intensive Care Unit

A national survey of 39 Haitian hospitals with more than 6 beds conducted by St-Luc Hospital and the Maryland Medical Center revealed that only 15 of these hospitals have an intensive care unit (ICU Level 1) for a total of 90 beds with the possibility of 45 intubated patients.

Of these 15 hospitals with an intensive care unit, 9 are private and 6 are public hospitals.

Why would a patient need to be intubated?

Intubation, in case you're wondering, is the process of inserting a tube, called an endotracheal tube (ET), through the mouth of a patient and then into the airway so that the patient can be placed on a ventilator to assist him/her with breathing during anesthesia, sedation, or severe illness.

So, in Haiti, a country of over 12 million people, only 45 patients can be intubated at one time, in the entire country!

Did you know? Any decrease in oxygen delivery to an injured brain increased the your chance of survival. So if God forbid you have a severe illness in Haiti or say you get involved in a severe traffic accident, you are shit out of luck!

Related Article: Haiti Medical Crisis: ZERO Medical infrastructure in 122 Section Communales in Haiti, NO hospitals, not even a health clinic

This information I've just share with you is from an article released by Le Nouvelliste trying to explain why a former public health minister died after she was involved in a traffic accident somewhere between Jeremie and Aux Cayes. I am breaking it down into pieces to help spread the news about what I consider to be a serious medical crisis in Haiti.

Things have to change in Haiti! There is no other way!

Write a comment

You might also like

Return to Articles List

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

E-mail (required, will not be published)

Subject: Haiti Medical Crisis: Only 15 Hospitals nationwide have an Intensive Care Unit edit

» »