After landing at the Opa-locka Executive Airport, Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., said he was impressed by the work of Dr. Barth Green, Project Medishare and the Global Institute.

“I am so impressed by the work of Barth Green and his team. In no time, the Miller School of Medicine, with Project Medishare and the Global Institute, were able to create an urgent care center that was invaluable to the people of Port-au-Prince,” Dean Goldschmidt said.

Among the first foreign doctors into Haiti after Tuesday’s earthquake, Dr. Barth Green, Project Medishare co-founder, is now helping coordinate international medical relief, and overseeing a new field hospital that was set up on vacant land in the northwest corner of Port-au-Prince’s international airport.

Allowing the team on the ground to operate more efficiently, the new hospital houses a medical staff of 100 and two operating rooms. The hospital is formed out of four tents that retired Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning arranged to have donated by a party-planning company. Project Medishare/UM Global Institute’s medical team is assisting more than 300 patients at this new facility.

Mourning who volunteered with Project Medishare/UM Global Institute doctors three days after the quake, returned to Haiti Monday with ESPN analyst Desmond Howard, and Philadelphia Sixers’ Samuel Dalembert. The three are volunteered their time to assist Project Medishare at the new hospital location. Dalembert is the NBA’s only Haitian-born player. Mourning is encouraging fans, friends and teammates to support Project Medishare.

UM Global Institute in partnership with Project Medishare is working closely with the Haitian Ministry of Health, the United Nations, and the U.S. Army to organize all medical teams on the ground and implement a plan to set up field hospitals and triage centers around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Our organization is uniquely positioned to provide disaster relief services in Haiti because of the staff experience, language skills and relationships developed over many years working in this impoverished country.

Click here to read more from the Miller School of Medicine’s weekly e-News.

Five days after the earthquake, a search and rescue team brought an infant six to eight weeks old to Project Medishare/UM Global Institute’s trauma team who was stationed at UN Headquarters at the time. Covered in dust and unconscious, she  was found under a pile of rubble five days after the earthquake and she was clinging to life.

The young child had survived the earthquake for five days without water or her mother’s milk. Her pulse was low and she suffered a depressed skull fracture and a flail chest.

A Project Medishare/UM Global Institute pediatrician and neonatal nurse started an I.V. fluid which helped raise the baby’s heart rate….soon the young girl began to move and open her eyes.

But the baby was having trouble breathing due to her chest injury and because these were the early stages of rescue and relief after the 7.0 earthquake, the child needed to be taken to a Prenatal Intensive Care Unit for life-saving treatment.

Project Medishare Co-founder and UM Miller School of Medicine’s Dr. Arthur Fournier working with the team knew the team had a plane on the runway.

It was leaving in 15 minutes.

Read about how the Project Medishare/UM Global Institute trauma team worked  to treat this baby girl and how in a matter of minutes managed to save her life.

Dr. Fournier’s story is a tale of hero’s and angels in working in Haiti. In the article, the doctor compares the child’s experience and life to Haiti herself.

“This child is Haiti, I realize — the microcosm that reflects the macrocosm. Easily given up for dead, she came back. So will Haiti.”

Read the full story by Dr. Fournier in today’ s The Miami Herald.

CLICK HERE to support Project Medishare/UM Global Institute in our medical relief efforts in Haiti.  Your donation will go toward purchasing necessary medical equipment and will help fund transportation to get doctors and nurses to Haiti.

A bill allowing earthquake relief donations in 2010 deductible on 2009 income taxes cleared Congress today, passing in the Senate on a voice vote.

Donations must be made by the end of February. Normally, the Internal Revenue Service requires charitable donations to be made by Dec. 31 to be claimed on that year’s tax forms.

The House of Representatives  unanimously passed H.R. 4462 yesterday, which includes a provision allowing those who text messaged a donation the ability to use a phone bill as proof of donation.

To make your 2009 tax-deductible donation to UM Global Institute’s combined efforts relief efforts in Haiti, click here.

If you had not heard of Project Medishare/UM Global Institute before the earthquake in Haiti, perhaps you are now hearing about the work both organizations are doing on the ground from news reports or here on the blog.

We received this email today sharing what Dr. Barth Green and Project Medishare/UM Global Institute medical trauma teams did for Kathy Rice Schmitt’s mother and her eye care mission team. Nancy Smith and her team were trapped and eventually rescued from a collapsed building. The email shows that this earthquake that hit a tiny neighboring country like Haiti, has also hit closer to home.

“My mother was in Haiti with an eye care mission team from Dallas and was trapped in a collapsed building with five members of her team. Three of them were seriously injured; one ultimately did not survive her internal injuries.

Dr. Green encountered their team in a makeshift hospital on the Wednesday night/Thursday morning after the quake, and took great measures to ensure that my mom (Nancy Rice, who had suspected back or pelvic injuries that prevented her from walking or boarding a plane), and her injured teammates were evacuated to Miami on a private plane that delivered a team of Florida doctors to Haiti.

Of our team of 12, we have 3 with injuries that are currently healing. We lost Jean Arnwine, who had severe internal injuries and died during surgery on Friday after being evacuated to Guadaloupe. Nancy Rice has extensive crush wounds but no broken bones/internal injuries or permanent physical damage; Dr. Gary Fish has a fractured sternum; Karen Gardner was buried in rubble for 5 hours and has many wounds and may lose the use of her left arm.

Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude forever go to Dr. Green. This man is an angel and a blessing for the work he does with the wonderful people of Haiti, and we will never be able to repay him for what he did to save Nancy and the Dallas team.

Kathy Rice Schmitt

(daughter of Nancy Rice, Haiti earthquake survivor thanks to Dr. Green!)”

To donate to UM Global Institute/Project Medishare’s relief efforts on the ground click here.

Members from the Haitian American Nurses Association were briefed about the situation on the ground in Port-au-Prince shortly after their arrival this evening. HANA sent 30 volunteer nurses to work with Project Medishare/UM Global Institute.

By Jennifer Browning

As part of an ongoing partnership with the Haitian American medical community, 30 nurses from the Haitian American Nursing Association (HANA) arrived this evening to assist Project Medishare/UM Global Institute doctors.

Shortly after their arrival, the nursing team was briefed about the situation on the ground. They will be working out of a makeshift hospital which houses 100 medical staff and two operating rooms. The hospital is formed out of two tents that retired Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning arranged to have donated by a party-planning company. Project Medishare/UM Global Institute is treating more than 300 patients at that facility.

HANA nurses will be staying to work with the Project Medishare/UM Global Institute team for varying lengths of time and continue to volunteer on a rotating schedule. Haitian American doctors from all over the United States (Florida, New Jersey, New York, etc) have contacted Project Medishare/UM Global Institute, and some are already working with our team in Port-au-Prince.

Medical volunteers wishing to donate their time and join Project Medishare/UM Global Institute’s relief plan in Haiti should email their name, address, phone number, email, language/medical skills, and availability to haitivolunteers@med.miami.edu.

To support Project Medishare/UM Global Institute in their relief efforts click here to donate to the Project Medishare Earthquake Relief Fund. Know that your donation will be used immediately in our efforts to provide medical relief services to earthquake victims in Haiti today, and for many months to come. Project Medishare has been in Haiti since 1994 and will be here long after the cameras have gone home. We appreciate all the support to help us get the people of Haiti through this tragic time.

Walgreens is providing non-perishable food, water and medical supplies to the University of Miami Global Institute for Community Health and Development who is partnered with Project Medishare in Haiti, Inc. which have set up clinics and triage units on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Walgreens stores in the Miami area are also taking donations for local Red Cross relief efforts on the ground in Port-au-Prince.

Read more here.

In a grand effort to assist the disaster ridden country of Haiti, Project Medishare and The Global Institute of Miami supporters are currently creating a website encouraging restaurants, clubs, bars, etc. across the United States to get on board with “Save Haiti Saturday.” Save Haiti Saturday is a national service day to benefit Project Medishare’s relief efforts, taking place this Saturday, January 16.

Each business will be donating a portion of their proceeds from the evening whether it be their door cover charges, a percentage of the food intake, etc. The final decision as to how much each individual venue
chooses to donate will be up to them.

Celebrities are already on board, joining Project Medishare and their partners like The Global Institute to endorse “Save Haiti Saturday” as well—Maya Angelou, Lenny Kravitz, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Seacrest, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Freeney, Terrell Owens, Sammy Dalembert (from Haiti), Alonzo Mourning, Evan Ross, David Lee, Romero Brito, Anthony Shriver, and Landon Donovan among others have all supported the cause.

Different types of people from all walks of life are banding together to help Haiti in their desperate time of need.

Check out the Save Haiti Saturday website and encourage your community to join in and help Haiti.

By Jennifer Browning

Chairman of The Global Institute at the University of Miami and Project Medishare Co -Founder Dr. Barth Green is currently meeting with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss relief efforts in Port-au-Prince and Haiti.

The Global Institute at the University is organizing doctors and nurses from Miami hospitals to team up with Project Medishare’s medical teams working mobile trauma clinics in Haiti.

Project Medishare’s 11-person trauma team has been on the ground in Port-au-Prince since Wednesday morning. The trauma team worked out of United Nations headquarters at the airport, but under very difficult circumstances.

Project Medishare’s Executive Director, Ellen Powers, reported that the amount of suffering is far overwhelming the capability to help.

Three more teams arrived on Thursday with medical supplies. Instead of working out of UN headquarters, the teams are now working between Port-au-Prince’s General Hospital Hospital Universitaire de la Paix, and a makeshift hospital outside the Hotel Villa Creole where it will be easier to provide better care. Medical teams will be flying in daily to assist the primary Project Medishare team.

Project Medishare’s office and staff house in Port-au-Prince has been destroyed. Two staff members are missing and believed to be in the office at the time of the quake.

Powers said that while there was a need for medical supplies that logistically getting these supplies into the streets of Port-au-Prince are nearly impossible right now.

TODAY Show’s Ann Curry and Al Roker interviewed Anna Morrison, a Project Medishare medical team member. The medical trauma units will fly in each day with medical supplies, stay for 20 hours, and fly back to Miami. Morrison, who works at Holy Cross Hospital in Miami, said the hospital donated $5000 worth of the supplies the team brought in this morning.

CNN’s Eric Marrapodi reported that the pier used for delivery of cargo to Port-au-Prince was “completely compromised” by Tuesday’s earthquake. Marrapodi said three ships filled with medical supplies, food, clothing and water were turned away. He also reported that roads leading into the city from the dock were bucked about 5 feet high by the earthquake.

Project Medishare is asking that donors do not send supplies right now, but to donate money to Project Medishare’s Earthquake Relief Fund so that Project Medishare medical teams may purchase necessary supplies.

Project Medishare has been working in Haiti since 1995 and is committed to long term recovery efforts for years to come. Project Medishare is uniquely positioned to provide disaster relief services in Haiti because of the staff experience, language skills and relationships developed over many years working in this impoverished country.

The most urgent need right now are cash grants. You can donate through the online Earthquake Relief Fund today.

Click here to donate online to The Global Institute’s partnering efforts with Project Medishare or you can send checks by mail to:

Global Institute
Miller School of Medicine
1801 NW 9th Ave.
Suite 470 (M701)
Miami, FL 33136

Please make checks payable to: Global Institute Millennium Project Haiti.

Just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, an earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 7.0 struck 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince leaving most the country in rubble. The Associated Press reported that parts of Haiti’s National Palace collapsed. There are also reports saying that a hospital in Pétionville, a hillside district of the capitol, collapsed. The United Nations reported late this evening that their headquarters were severely damaged and people were missing.

The worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years leaves Port-au-Prince in darkness tonight. The New York Times reported that electricity is out, telephones are not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.

The Global Institute at the University of Miami is partnering with Project Medishare who is gathering reports from Haiti and monitoring events. An emergency medical team is currently being assembled and will be placed on standby if needed.

In Country Director for The Global Institute and Project Medishare Director Ellen Powers said contact has been made with staff in Thomonde and early reports are that everyone is safe.

The Global Institute and Project Medishare are organizing a trauma team to head to Haiti tomorrow.

If you would like to donate to the support the medical efforts in Haiti click here.

Because Rome’s U.N. Food and Agriculture offices are unheated at night, U.N. Food Chief Jacques Diouf bundled up with a hat, scarf and overcoat over his pajamas and spent the night on a makeshift mattress in an effort to draw attention to the 1 billion chronically malnourished people before next week’s U.N. food summit. Diouf began the 24-hour strike at 8 p.m. Friday in the lobby FAO offices.

Diouf along with the FAO hopes to raise awareness about the plight of the world’s hungry as well as put pressure on world leaders to help combat malnutrition.

The Akamil Production Facility sits behind a new generator, the first piece of equipment to be installed for the facility. The Akamil Production Facility will manufacture and distribute Akamil, a mix of locally-grown products such as cereals (rice, corn, millet, wheat) and vegetables (beans) all blended into powder. The finished product will be fortified with a mix of important vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and Vitamin A.

On the heels of the upcoming UN Food Summit, Project Medishare has been working toward specifically solving the malnutrition problem in Haiti with the construction of the Akamil Production Facility and Nutrition Complex. Construction of the facility began over two years ago and despite severe hurricanes the Akamil Production Facility is finally complete. Currently, equipment for the production facility is being installed. Project Medishare is expecting to conduct trial runs of the Akamil product in December.

The Global Institute at the University of Miami has joined Project Medishare in the battle against hunger and malnutrition through the Integrated Community Development Program (ICDP’s). The Akamil Production Facility is a start in working toward the ICDP’s success.

The Akamil Production Facility will manufacture and distribute AKA1000, often referred to as Akamil, a mix of locally-grown products such as cereals (rice, corn, millet, wheat) and vegetables (beans) all blended into powder. It is a product of great nutritious value containing building and energetic nutrients, and is affordable to poor families. With the expert consultation of a nutritionist, the finished product will be fortified with a mix of important vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and Vitamin A.

Having been introduced in the 1970s, Akamil is well-known and accepted in Haiti. AK-1000 is an energetic and constructive food with a satisfying nutritional value that fills the deficits currently observed among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and TB/HIV patients in Haiti.