The U.S. military announced that suspended U.S. medical evacuation of the seriously injured victims of the earthquake Haitians until they determine who will pay for your care.
The decision prompted the concern of those who strives to help the injured and a million Haitians left homeless by the earthquake of January 12 as well as the U.S. ambassador in Haiti.
"temporarily suspended flights evacuation of Haitians," the AFP said Capt. Kevin Aandahl, spokesman for the military transport command (TRANSCOM). "Apparently, some states were unwilling to accept the entry of Haitian patients for continued treatment "for serious injuries, said Aandahl.
" Without a destination to fly, we can not transfer anyone. If you do not have permission to bring them, or not accepted, can not perform the mission, "he said," is very simple. "
The New York Times reported that military flights for people with spinal injuries, burns and other serious injury, ended on Wednesday after the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist requested support from the federal government to pay for the care of the wounded.
Until now in Florida hospitals have treated more than 500 victims of the earthquake, including a child rescued from the rubble with skull and several broken ribs, the report said. Flights to other states that received Haitian patients were also suspended.
The suspension could be catastrophic for patients, said Dr. Berth Green, co-founder of Project Medishare for Haiti, a nonprofit organization associated with the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, which has been evacuating some twelve wounded per day. "People are dying in Haiti because they can not get out," Green said in the NYT.
Crist did not specify how much it cost to service Florida was providing health, but the number and complexity of the cases raised the figure to several million dollars, he added.
This unforeseen expense occurs in a complicated economic situation for Florida, where Crist also is locked in the race for the Senate seat occupied by Republican Mel Martinez, said The Times.
U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Merten, said the Department of State and Defense worked with the government of Florida to resolve the problem.
"Obviously it's something that concerns us and if it is a matter of miscommunication, we will endeavor to ensure clear that poor communication" Merten said in a teleconference.
United States and United Nations is leading the relief efforts after the 7.0 magnitude quake that destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, resulting in 170,000 dead and 200,000 wounded.
But relief efforts have been strongly criticized for the lack of coordination and some Latin American leaders denounced the deployment of 20,000 troops in HaitÃ.fuente Page12
0 comments:
Post a Comment