International SOS’ Global Security Center, London


team began searching for clients in need of help. “We’d been working in Haiti for many years, so we knew the geography and had pre-established contacts”, says Alex Puig. “When you’re operating in unrecognizable devastation, this knowledge becomes invaluable.” By the evening of January 14, evacuees began arriving at the secure compound. “We know from past experience that evacuees can be seriously affected by their experience,” said Dr Robert Quigley, International SOS’ Regional Medical Director, Americas. “Getting them to a safe extraction point so they can rest and start to come to grips with what has happened is a priority before any onward journey.”


First evacuations The first International SOS evacuations took place on January 15 when a team from Santo Domingo arrived to deliver critical supplies to the incident management team and picked up 11 evacuees to make the flight to Santo Domingo for a more detailed medical assessment and, where necessary, admission to the hospital.


Shortly after, the US military shut down airspace


around Port-au-Prince to any inbound traffic. Using a small 12-seater Cessna aircraft and helicopters the team continued evacuations and, as airspace again became available, carried out more rescue missions using jet and propeller planes as well as helicopters.


20 Hotline Silver Edition, 2010


“We know from past


Missions ongoing As communication networks improved in Haiti, the alarm center began receiving calls for advice as evacuations continued. The apparent slowness of the authorities’ relief efforts, hampered significantly by the scale of the destruction, led to anger and looting in Port-au-Prince. As the situation intensified, security teams safely escorted members to the airport and to the helicopter landing zones from which they could fly to Santo Domingo and be received by International SOS’ reception teams. Throughout the crisis International SOS’ client


liaison team kept all client contacts fully informed while doctors in Philadelphia helped manage the medical care of members in hospital in Santo Domingo. One nine-month-old baby suffering from pneumonia was accompanied, together with his mother, on a flight out from Haiti. An International SOS nurse escorted them to a hospital in Santo Domingo and then stayed overnight with them until the baby was stable. “A


can be seriously


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