A temporary hospital set up close to the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has an ICU in back and medical-surgical unit in front.

CHARTING THE PROGRESS ON MEDICAL CARE, NEEDS IN HAITI CHARTING THE PROGRESS ON MEDICAL CARE, NEEDS IN HAITI Scott Plantz answered some questions from USA TODAY's Marisol Bello about health conditions in Haiti . Q: How would you assess the current state of medical care in Haiti? A: I think it's improving. My concern was that there seemed to be no central organization managing the supply of health professionals going in and out of the country. As a consequence, there is an oversupply of one specialty and an undersupply of much-needed specialists. A perfect example was that there were four orthopedic surgeons where I worked and no vascular surgeons or neurosurgeons, both of which are badly needed. Patients needed craniotomies or other complex vascular procedures, and there was no one capable of doing it. Part of the problem was that even if they could do it, there was no blood supply available. While we seemed to have a great deal of supplies, there were key pockets of missing supplies. There were no blood products, no IV nutritional supplements, no IV vitamins, which are needed to maintain nutritionally deficient patients. Q: What do you see as the primary medical needs of the country going forward? A: The country needs food and clean water, these are primary medical needs. As health professionals or citizens who want to help, we have to understand that we have to provide preventive medicine and acute care medicine, as well as helping the people provide for their own nutritional needs. That means they have to be able to be self-sufficient. Q: Do you see those needs being met? A: No. I saw health professionals doing a great job of meeting the immediate health care needs of the people. But I did not see any evidence of anyone making a long-term commitment to the health and safety of the people, and that includes improving the infrastructure. Q: What struck you the most from your time in Haiti? A: I saw a Haitian mother caring for a badly burned infant, and the same love this woman had for her child, I see the same love my wife has for our child. Q: What did it mean to you to volunteer there? Will you go back? A: I come back with an even greater appreciation of how great it is to practice medicine in the United States. You go to a country like this and it helps you put things in perspective. The people are so grateful for the care you can provide because they don't get anything if you are not there. The poorest of the poorest American is better off than 99% of the Haitians. I plan to go back in a month or so. Scott Plantzwas in Haiti Feb. 19-23 to volunteer at a hospital for survivors of the earthquake that left hundreds of thousands of Haitians in need of care. He is a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Chicago Medical School. He is the author and editor of more than 20 medical textbooks, co-founder of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a senior vice president of Gannett Education. He practices in Florida and Texas. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  Twenty years in inner-city ERs, I thought I had seen it all until ... Haiti. Flying in you feel like you are being dropped into a war zone — helicopters, tents, military vehicles, cargo boxes and searchlights. U.S. DOCTORS: Say Haiti stands out from other disasters HAITIANS: New amputees worry about life ahead VIDEO: First person: Go aboard 'floating hospital' USNS Comfort In Port-au-Prince I worked at Project Medishare and the University of Miami Global Institute hospital located 200 yards from the runway at the Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport. The earplugs my wife tossed in my bag turned out to be a major lifesaver. At first I thought I had arrived in chaotic hell. I soon learned I was working at the best-organized, best-manned and well-stocked hospital in Haiti. I worked in a 10-bed emergency room with dirt floors, no privacy curtains and one trauma bay. Patients were taken care of in outdoor tents or either the medical, pediatric or surgical wards. There is an intensive care unit and a large operating room with plank wood floors. The operating room has four teams. We had a lab, pharmacy and an X-ray machine. Staff accommodations included one large air-conditioned tent and multiple small tents. We slept on cots and even had electricity, phone and Internet connections. There were outdoor showers and toilets. I was working in the lap of luxury compared to my colleagues at other facilities. We had water and food, most of the time. Protein bars and military MREs (meal, ready-to-eat) were the staple. Hot meals consisting of rice and beans showed up intermittently. In the ER I saw patients whose wounds ranged from crush injuries, to acute gunshot wounds, with a sprinkling of tropical diseases. ER residents and nurses asked, "What's this?" Invariably it was an end-stage clinical finding you never see in the United States. Malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid and parasitic diseases were common. Patients who looked to be in their 70s turned out to be 40. At this stage in the quake aftermath the trauma usually came from recovery attempts or fights over food and water. One child had fallen off a 15-foot wall. His father carried him on his back 20 miles to our ER. There was no neurosurgeon available for his head injury. Fortunately, he did well. The medical-surgical ward would take your breath away; all patients in row after row of cots 12 inches off the floor. The back ward had a row of paralyzed patients. Being a quadriplegic is a serious problem in the United States; it is a death sentence in Haiti. One man, paralyzed from the chest down, arrived with both legs rotting off. Haitian families lived all day in 100-degree heat in tents across from the ICU. Anywhere you looked was a patient with broken bones being wheeled around in makeshift wheelchairs. They were the worst injuries I have ever seen. Bones were literally crushed. Even with the best orthopedic surgeons, repair was often impossible. Wounds, some infected, got great care. I was called to assist in the care of a patient found buried in the rubble. Needed intravenous supplemental food and vitamins, which proved to be unavailable. He doesn't seem alive — skin and bones, barely coherent. I am sure he will die. The United Nations was an oasis not far from camp. Identify yourself with medical ID and they let you in. There is a restaurant with hamburgers and beer. They even have showers and flush toilets. There are tons of people hanging out. Major subject of conversation is, "What in the hell is the U.N. doing?" Patients are arriving by foot and oxcart and the U.N. has at least a hundred unused vehicles and a dozen helicopters flying around dignitaries with no thought apparently given to providing medical transport. The most frustrating problem is little communication between hospitals. At Medishare we had four orthopedic surgeons with light surgical loads. We found out just down the road they were sending patients home with femur fractures who were told to come back in two weeks. No central organization is helping to manage the supply of health professionals. I flew down with a group of 200 college students with no association with Project Medishare — probably the most frustrating aspect. They came down to "help out" — each at a cost of $500. They had no construction or medical skills. When you realize $500 will keep two Haitian children alive for a year, watching anyone arrive that is not trained is aggravating. Funding the sending of carpenters or one bulldozer would have been 1,000 times more effective. The entire country was overpopulated before the earthquake; things are now a hundred times worse. In the past we have provided immunizations, clean water and medical care, but the problem is you end up with 9 million Haitian people with resources that might support 1 million. Returned home feeling we made a difference, tired and a bit frustrated. Plan to go back soon. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more