Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-March 16, 2011 Issue

Midland Park March 16, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Stephen Lockhart of the Midland Park Ambulance Corps recently spent eight days in Haiti on a humanitarian medical mission organized by The Wesleyan Church. “The 13-person team worked out of the hospital that the church manages on the Isle of La Gonave,” Lockhart explained. “As far as volunteer medical teams go, this group was well qualified, with five doctors -- including three surgeons, five nurses, a pharmacist, an EMT (Lockhart), and a French-English translator.” Lockhart was the only American member of the group. His 12 companions were from Canada. “I was asked to join the group because of my experience with the Midland Park Ambulance Corps,” he continued. “Essentially, the role of an EMT in New Jersey is to take patients to the nearest appropriate emergency facility, asking questions and making assessments along the way that help the emergency room to more quickly and appropriately direct the patient to proper care. My role in Haiti was to triage patients before assigning them to a doctor.” The volunteer said his experience with the Midland Park Ambulance Corps was extremely valuable in Haiti, as his triage work enabled the doctors to see many more patients than they could have otherwise. “The volume of patients we saw was really off-the-charts. In Midland Park, the ambulance corps makes between 500 and 600 calls in a normal year. In Haiti, the group saw over 400 patients in one week,” he said. Lockhart and his team spent some time at an orphanage in La Gonave. He explained that many of the children who are housed there lost their mothers, or both parents, in the January 2010 earthquake. “In our drive through Port au Prince, it was evident that much of the rubble from the earthquake has yet to be cleared off the streets, and the now homeless people show no signs of leaving the ‘tent cities.’ Add to this a cholera epidemic stemming from impure drinking water, and you get a sense of how desperate the situation is,” Lockhart said. Lockhart joined the ambulance corps in 2005. That year, Local EMT participates in Haitian medical mission Above left: Stephen Lockhart handing out goodies at the orphanage at Anse a Galot. At right: One of the many tent cities, which goes on for acres. Over one million people are still living in tents. he set his sights on volunteering with the Red Cross to help out in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He took several disaster management and relief courses, but was never called on to help in New Orleans. He noted that EMTs were in demand, and signed up for an EMT course at the Law & Public Safety Institute in Mahwah. “I enrolled with the idea that this would make me more eligible to go on relief efforts through the Red Cross,” Lockhart said. “Part of the requirement to become certified in New Jersey as an EMT is to work with your local ambulance corps. The people at the Midland Park Ambulance Corps were great, and I quickly realized that I could help others and stay much closer to home. It has been very satisfying for me. “If you think about it, the local volunteer ambulance services are one of the few real bargains in Bergen County, along with all the volunteer fire departments. We will pick up a patient in a new and well-supplied ambulance, have at least two well-qualified and certified crew members on board, take the patient to the nearest appropriate facility, and never send the patient a bill.” Lockhart pointed out that this service is possible because the community has been supporting the corps’ semi-annual fund drives since 1942. �� SPECIALIZING IN: �� 3-16-11 Joan/Janine