Happy Feet Podiatry LLC 

8:00 AM EST -
Hello everyone,
Thank you for all your prayers
This morning at 4 AM I received news from my aunt in Haiti. My Brother and all my mother's side of the family are alive, but homeless . A lot of Haitians are now homeless,
but still keep praying for my sister and her daughter and my aunt (my father’s sister).

As for now I am accepting donation from family and close friends for my family in Haiti. This donation can be send through Paypal (see the home page of my website).

I am also a member of the Haitian Doctors Association in NJ and we are collecting donations. Please, any donations to the association should be made to AMHE Inc NJ Chapter. This donation will support children that the association has been supporting for over 10 years. As for now, we still have not heard any news about them. We are aware that the place where they live, Lasaline, is also destroy. The web site for this association is AMHENJ.org

Thank you all
God Bless.
Marnell

6:50 PM EST -
As of 6 PM on 1/15/2010 - Dr. Moore's group has not received the "go-ahead" - they still don't know when they are leaving for Haiti.  There is great concern that there is no way to support their group once they get to Haiti, in regard to food, shelter, transportation and medical supplies.  I will provide updates as I get them.- Scott

12:30 AM EST -
The flight is planned to leave this afternoon, God willing, to go to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.  Please pray for safe travels.  No sleep yet. - Scott

5:15 PM EST -
Marnell has boarded the aircraft for Haiti.  It is a charter aircraft leaving from JFK Airport, and she is traveling with many doctors and emergency support personnel.  It seems most of the doctors are Haitian-American.  You might be able to catch them on the news.  I saw Fox5 NY and some others.  It will probably be on the evening news.  I also heard a report on 1010 WINS radio as were leaving JFK Airport. - Scott

10 PM EST -
The aircraft had further delays and did not travel to Haiti as expected.  They diverted to Miami, FL for the night, and plan to go on to Port-Au-Prince tomorrow morning. -Scott

2:30 PM EST -
I just got off the phone with Marnell.  She is taking off from Miami now. - Scott

5:10 PM EST -
Marnell arrived in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. - Scott

6:00 PM EST -
I spoke with Marnell.  She called on the Satelite Telephone.  With the wonderful help of Rachel Gomez from AT&T, I was able to get Marnell's cell phone working in Haiti. I found out that we can text her for no charge, as much as we want.  So, feel free to text her if you have her cell number.  It costs her $0.50 per text back, so don't expect one back ;)  - Scott

6:15 AM EST -
Dr. Moore informed me that their group is to meet with the Haitian Minister of Health at 11 AM this morning.  There is a lot of frustration among the doctors that no one in Haiti has set up a way for them to "get to work".  After arriving yesterday evening, no representative from the Haitian Government met with them.  The doctors waited several hours at the Port-Au-Prince airport for transportation, and finally arrived in the location they are staying at to sleep.

Marnell told me that she has become the best source of communication equpment for the group.  Between her AT&T Cell phone and Iridium Sat-Phone, everyone is using her equipment to get in touch with people in Haiti and in the U.S.A.

Marnell's aunt (father's sister) has been found, and is okay.  Marnell's sister (Astrid) is still missing. - Scott

12:00 PM EST -
The group is still at the place they were taken last night.  They have been unable to get to a place to start working.  The group is frustrated at not being able to get to work.

7:38 PM EST -
Dr. Moore started working at the hospital around 3 PM.  She informed me that they are doing a lot of extremity amputations. (She says it is sad). She also mentioned that she needs more wound care products.  Also, she said there is no light in the hospital.

8:35 PM EST -
Photos have been added to the HAITI PHOTOS page.

2:30 PM EST -
I received news today that Marnell's sister Astrid is okay! All of her immediate family is accounted for.  - Scott

8:45 PM EST -

After a $50 Iridium telephone call with Marnell, she gave me the following information.

     Dr. Moore's group, Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad, (http://amhenj.org/PresidentialAddress.html) is working at the Port-Au-Prince General Hospital. The hospital, by a miracle of God, is still standing and in good condition. This building is very close to the Haitian White House, which was destroyed by the earthquake. She mentioned that they do not have lighting in the hospital, making it more complex to help those in need. Marnell told me that different doctor groups from around the world are now showing up, and many of them present themselves as “being in charge”. This is very frustrating for Marnell's group, because these groups are coming in and assuming that her group are unqualified local doctors, not highly trained Haitian-American physicians from the United States. So, they come in barking orders, and these doctors spend all of their time arguing with each-other, trying to prove they're in charge, while the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad group hastily tries to take care of all the wounded. There are about fifty Haitian-American Doctors from the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad group, and they are able to speak the language – and they know the people. Marnell feels that a Haitian doctor (from the hospital) needs to be put in charge, but there are too many egos involved to get things running smoothly.

     To further add to the problems, Marnell suspects that some of the staff of the hospital are stealing the medical supplies. Also, the local residents are quick to take advantage of their group by overcharging for transportation and food. It seems the same greed and corruption that was prevalent before the disaster is still alive and well among some of the citizens.

     She informed me that the level of care at the hospital before they arrived was very bad. Many of the patients treated after the earthquake did not receive the proper follow-up care, and have wounds that will likely cause them to die. Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad nurses are busy delivering babies (she told me at least 12 were born last night), many premature. Many broken bones had gone untreated since the earthquake, even on patient's that have already been seen by doctors prior to the group's arrival.

     Dr. Moore is putting out a plea for assistance. She has informed me that their group in Haiti DESPERATELY needs pain medications (narcotics) and wound care products. Without them, they cannot do the work that needs to be done. If you have some way of providing these products, please contact Paul Nacier MD pnacier@aol.com or Eric L. Jerome, MD FACP eljerome@pol.net  Also, please visit http://amhenj.org/Update.html for more information. This organization is MAKING A DIFFERENCE NOW. If you have the means to donate to this organization, I am being told that 100% of the funds are being used to help Haiti. Please visit http://amhenj.org

 Also, she mentioned that they desperately need news coverage on the ground for their Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad group currently in Haiti in order to increase awareness of their situation at the hospital. If you are able to pass this along to any networks, please do so. If you are able to provide news coverage, please contact her Iridium satellite telephone at +1(321)745-3665 and her cell number is +1(201)759-3623. Please DO NOT leave a message, just try back later.

- Scott

6:45 AM EST -
     Dr. Moore informed me that she was awakened by people rushing from the building they are staying in at about 6 AM this morning due to the 6.1 earthquake.  She is okay.

6:25 AM EST -
     Dr. Moore is currently interviewed on www.CNN.com - click on the video "Amputation patients get only Motrin"

7:00 pm EST -
     Dr. Moore informed me that the General Hospital is starting to run more efficiently.  She said there is a greater presence of U.S. Military in the city, and security is better.  She also told me that she expects to come home on Tuesday, January 26th.

     Thank-you to Anderson Cooper (CNN) and other Press for their coverage of Dr. Moore and her group's situation.  It has brought greater awareness of their specific plight, and has helped to get more supplies to their location.

7:30 PM EST -
     Marnell is very tired, and a bit frustrated.  She commented to me that today wasn't a good day, and that some of the chaos that she thought was gone, had returned.  She mentioned that many of the patients were afraid to go into the hospital for fear that an earthquake might come while they are inside, and the building would fall down.

     Marnell also mentioned that her group has been primarily doing triage and post-surgical care to the many patience at the General Hospital.  While their group has many qualified surgeons, they haven't been allowed by the teams at the hospitals to perform many surgeries. She didn't fully understand why, but she didn't feel it was important, because it is critical that the patient's get good post-operative care in any event.

7:45 PM EST -
     Marnell told me that someone let her use a sleeping bag last night, and she had the best night sleep since arriving in Haiti.

8:00 AM EST -
   Marnell told me she will likely try to get home on Monday or Tuesday.

5:30 PM EST -
     Here is a link to the transcripts from the CNN interview with Dr. Moore. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1001/20/acd.02.html

     Here is a link to a CNN news article where the reporter simply walks into the airport and takes the medical supplies to the hospital.  http://therebeller.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-sanjay-gupta-exposes-failed.html

9:10 PM EST -
     Dr. Moore boarded the aircraft to at Port-Au-Prince to leave for Miami, and some respresentative forced her to leave the aircraft.  They saiid that she wasn't authorized to leave on that aircraft because she wasn't on the manifest.  So, after waiting for eight hours to board the aircraft today, they had loaded her suitcase, and then told her to leave.  She was scheduled to leave since Friday last week, but stayed to provide additional medical care over the weekend while new doctors arrived.  Apparantly, since Friday, her name was removed from the manifest for the aircraft.  Tonight, she was instructed to go to the U.S. Embassy, and get some sort of approval to leave.  Who knows when?  She's not sure if anyone is there to help her.
     So, after all of her sacrifice, Dr. Moore, who is a U.S. citizen and United States Air Force veteran, gets kicked off a flight to her own country.  What a horrible shame.  When I last spoke with her, I'm not sure they even gave her suitcase back.  The plane left without her.
     Now, she has to find some way to the U.S. Embassy, and try to figure out how she is going to get home to her family.

10:05 PM EST -
     Dr. Moore is stranded at the airport.  There doesn't seem to be any solid reason.  She was able to get her suitcase back, but no one at the airport seems to be able to provide any answers why she couldn't leave.  She was told that she has to sign a promissory note for $500 in order to be put on a manifest for a flight.  She doesn't know what flight.  She's not even sure if she still needs to go to the Embassy.  The State Department said that she shouldn't need to go to the Embassy if she can sign the promissory note at the airport. - wow!
     The State Department gave me a number to U.S. Customs and Border Control, but they couldn't help her either. It appears she can do nothing but wait, and hope that she can go home. Someone said that she may have to wait 24 hours for clearance. This is all very sad and disappointing after all of her sacrifice.
     It's too bad we don't know any U.S. Military Commanders on the ground there.  They might be able to help out - at least to gvie a U.S. Veteran a ride back to the mainland.. - Scott

12:30 AM EST -
Dr. Moore was able to get a ride with the US Coast Guard to Miami.  She is onboard the aircraft now, and ready to leave Port-Au-Prince!

11:00 AM EST -
Dr. Moore has returned home safely.  Thank-you for your prayers and support!