On the ground in Haiti

JACMEL, HAITI -

Joe Batt's Arm might seem like a world away from Haiti, but working at Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) Medical Clinic is a Fogo Island woman who has been playing an important role in meeting the medical needs of people impacted by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Corporal Michelle Tobin, 27, is in Jacmel, Haiti as a member of DART on Operation HESTIA - the Canadian Forces participation in humanitarian operations conducted in response to the catastrophic earthquake that struck Port au Prince. Cpl. Tobin is a medical technician from 1 Canadian Field Hospital in Petewawa, Ontario. Her decision to join the military to pursue medical training came from both her involvement with the cadet movement on Fogo Island and her boyfriend also being a military member. She joined the military in October of 2005. After boot camp she started training in early 2006 to become a medical technician and concluded that training in August of 2006. She continues to take additional medical training.

"I always knew I wanted to do some medical schooling," Cpl. Tobin said in a phone interview from Haiti last Wednesday. "I decided to give it a try (through the military) and see how it goes. It turns out that I love it and I want to pursue it for the rest of my career."

Meeting the needs

Cpl. Tobin was deployed to Haiti the day after the earthquake struck. She arrived there on Jan. 18.

A couple of days into being on the ground in Haiti Cpl. Tobin was at the Canadian Embassy when she felt a 6.1 aftershock.

"You could look in the pool and see everything shaking," she said. "I've never experienced anything like that. Everyone was a little scared.

"Even now, about a week and a half ago, a small aftershock could be felt."

Jacmel, the birthplace of Governor General Michaelle Jean, is located 90 kilometres from Port au Prince. People in the Jacmel area did sustain injuries in the earthquake.

"I did see a bit of everything when I first arrived," she said. "There was still a lot of trauma, but by the time I got there it was over a week since the earthquake (so a lot of the trauma patients had been seen)."

Cpl. Tobin feels her training and experience in the military served her well in Haiti. In her career thus far she has dealt with everything from seeing people with symptoms of the common cold to responding to trauma situations in Afghanistan (she had a tour in Afghanistan last year).

"I felt very confident in my abilities," she said. "I was well-equipped for this and for what I had to deal with."

Cpl. Tobin said she's doing okay dealing with the reality of the situation on the ground in Haiti.

"I've seen a lot before, I guess it's how you look at it," she said. "It's very horrible and I wish I didn't have to look at it and see the stuff that I did see, but I guess I'm doing okay with it.

"It helps that I'm not just standing by and watching things happen. I'm actually helping - so I feel good about that."

Since being in Haiti Cpl. Tobin has been tasked as a medic for her fellow military members. She also spent a day in a village in the mountains administering what assistance could be provided. Her focus now is on the DART Medical Clinic she attends to each day to offer medical assistance to the local people from infants to the elderly. There are not many people left with direct earthquake-related injuries, other than those who need to have dressings changed and that type of medical service. Cpl. Tobin also explained that they are in the process of "weaning" people from their medical services as this medical clinic prepares to wind down its operation. She said if people are stable enough to travel to their own local hospital they are being asked to do so.

Cpl. Tobin has observed that residents in the area where she is stationed are returning to a normal routine.

"They are cleaning up the streets and we (military) are helping out with that as well," she said. "They are opening up some of the buildings that were pretty much abandoned and airing them out. They are going back to work."

With the return to a new normal and the medical clinic winding down, Cpl. Tobin expects to be back in Canada sometime around March 15-21.

Cpl. Tobin extended a special hello to her father and mother, Ronald and Phyllis Tobin, as well as her brothers Brian and Daniel. She said she misses everyone and wished a happy belated birthday to her Dad.