One Decade Later, the Rescue Mission of Haiti of US Navy Recalled as Trust Builder
The deadly earthquake of 12th January 2010, had struck the capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, which levelled the huge concrete structures to the ground. Almost 2, 30,000 people lost their lives and more than 3, 00,000 severely injured. The comfort mission’s story, as a part of the military mission of the US, “Operation Unified Response” has had numerous implications, which resonated to this date, two years after the two hurricanes Maria and Irma in Puerto Rico.
Despite the devastation of Puerto Rico, any relief from Washington is on a halt for this mission. The White House was responsible for imposing restrictions on Wednesday on the 16 billion dollars fund. It was allocated by Congress. By blocking the spending on the shattered electrical grid of the island, as stated by the New York Times. The Housing and Urban Development Department has only released the funds of 1.5 billion dollars of the relief from the Congress, which cites concerns regarding political corruption. Of the entire amount, only around 5 million dollars are spent. Out of such a great amount, only this meager amount was sent forward.
Even when the United States is condemning corruption in all the other countries, the trust of the world in the United States has started plummeting by almost 50%, according to several surveys. This stated in the US survey, which was released earlier this week.
The relief effort in Haiti
Many have started contrasting this with the narrative, which emerged from the relief effort in Haiti. Navy ships and coast guards from the North Atlantic were ordered to reach Port-au-Prince. The medical personnel and crew had to reach the ship within 72 hours. In Baltimore, towering cranes were working constantly throughout the night, under the bright light, and they stacked one 894 foot converted tanker with pellets of food, bed linens, water, and most importantly, medical supplies. On 16th January, the comfort started pulling away from the dock. It was saluted with water as it started steaming towards the Atlantic on a mission, which was going to last for weeks.
The first patient started arriving before the comfort had reached the port. Two people were airlifted by a helicopter as the comfort started nearing Haiti and fortunately, both of them survived.
After the crew had dropped the anchor, a powerful aftershock was responsible for jolting the 70000-ton ship, which disabled the massive CAT scan Machine. Numerous helicopters started shutting patients inside the ship. It had become a city of suffering people, who were waiting to be examined.
Through the next 40 days, doctors, technicians, nurses, and other important personalities were admitting almost a thousand patients, as was reported by the surgeons of the ship. Many people suffered from deadly crush injuries. The hospital, which is equipped for particularly bullet wounds from the battlefield, started treating people with orthopedic problems. Not to forget, amputation was also an important procedure.
Whatever was done by the US Navy, helped in rebuilding plummeted trust. Almost every survivor was treated and taken care of and this helped in establishing the long lost trust once again.