Search and rescue in Haiti

RedR Member, Brian Davison was part of a nine-person team sent out by UK search and rescue charity RAPID UK, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January. 

Within 42 hours of the earthquake, which struck approximately 35 miles from the capital, Brian was in Port-au-Prince. As soon as he arrived, Brian realised the humanitarian need was far greater than first expected; “Everything was completely destroyed,“  he comments “homes flattened and emergency services - fire service, police, ambulance – at full stretch or destroyed .”

Brian, who was originally in the Leicestershire fire service, became involved in international relief work back in 1989. He has since worked in many places including in Bam, following the  earthquake in 2003, in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami and more recently in Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Brian has been a RedR Member since 2001 and has also participated on RedR’s Essentials of Humanitarian Practice course.

In the 16 days Brian spent with RAPID UK and DFID, he was involved in the rescue of three people pulled alive from the rubble. One was a 28 year old Fijian UN police officer, another was a 38 year old Haitian woman and he was part of a larger team helping with the rescue of a 2 year old from a nursery school.  “ It is satisfying to find people”, he states “but it is also rewarding to provide people with an emotional uplift. The fact that we, the international community, are there to help gives people a focus and raises their spirits”.

Aid workers in Haiti are facing numerous challenges, as Brian observes; “The infrastructure of Port-au-Prince is completely destroyed. Much of the existing aid that agencies kept in the warehouses was destroyed by the earthquake, so they have to get everything from outside. People who have lost their homes are on the streets and in the parks – wherever they can find space.”

On a more positive note, he remarks that even while he was there, there was evidence of some form of normality starting to return; “People were setting up stalls around the capital selling food – fruit, vegetables and dried fish. It is important for people to buy the local Haitian produce”, Brian states, “In order to get the country back up on it’s a feet and ensure a sustainable solution”.

Brian estimates that 60% of buildings have sustained some damage, with concrete structures severely damaged or collapsed. Providing enough shelter for the thousands without homes is a major priority before the monsoon rains come and no-one is in any doubt that it will be a long time before the country is rebuilt.
 

More Personal Stories