March 28, 2010
Reported by Chen Wei-chien
Written by Lydia Ma

As soon as countries all over the world heard about Haiti's 7.0-magnitude earthquake, many formed rescue and relief teams and sent them to Haiti. Taiwan also sent its own team of rescue workers via Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corp.

Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corp, a private, non-sectarian, non-profit organization dedicated to improving quality of life through provision of medical services and health education, sent a team of 65 medical professionals to Haiti. The group included Changhua Christian Hospital anesthesiologist Dr. Yeh Liang-tsai.

Team members included 14 people fluent in Haiti's official language, 3 Haitians medical students currently studying in Taiwan, and 23 professionals from Miami. They brought approximately 2,000 kg of medical supplies to assist the wounded in Haiti and provided medical services to more than 5,000 people during their brief stay in Port-au-Prince.

According to Yeh, he went to Haiti because he felt compelled to do his part in helping the people of Haiti. But he later confessed that though he had witnessed countless deceased and wounded patients inside the operating room over the years as a physician, he was still shocked by the number of wounded and dead people he saw when he first arrived to Haiti.

Yeh also reported that his team arrived 10 days after the earthquake and worked in a makeshift hospital with an open-air operating room where they conducted 17 major surgeries.

Taiwan Church News