Kansas City's Integral Life Foundation Leads Medical Team Treats Several Hundred Haitian Orphans

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 03 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PST

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Brad Gautney, medical operations executive for the Integral Life Foundation (ILF), returned from a medical trip to Haiti, where he and a team of four other medical professionals treated approximately 400 Haitian orphans and vulnerable children in the town of Gonaives. Dan Tasset, founder of ILF also returned from a separate mission the week before, providing food and supplies to the areas devastated by Hurricanes Hanna and Ike.

ILF is an organization based in Leawood, Kan. that builds medical clinics and provides staff to deliver primary and surgical care to Haitian orphans and others in the community. ILF partners with C3 Missions International in this endeavor. C3 Missions is an organization that addresses housing, healthcare, education, economic and spiritual needs for Haiti's orphans. This was ILF's third trip to Haiti since July to treat Haitian orphans.

"The fact that there are hundreds of orphan children left homeless - many of whom are seriously ill or injured - without food, water, or parents to care for them is a travesty," said Dan Tasset. "We challenge others around the world to follow our example. And we challenge medical professionals to join us as we bring much-needed healthcare to these children."

Gautney, a nurse practitioner who lived in Haiti prior to moving to the Kansas City area, and four medical personnel from Baltimore, Md. took a large supply of medicine and medical supplies to utilize in caring for the children most adversely affected by the recent devastation.

"We assessed close to 700 children, but concentrated on treating those who were acutely ill with such diseases as pneumonia, malaria, dehydration, lacerations and an array of other illnesses," said Gautney. "It is absolutely devastating to witness the extreme conditions the majority of the people in Gonaives are living in with such limited international response. However, it is comforting to know that many of the children in the C3 orphanage had shelter and food supplied by our airlifts the prior week."

Providing medical care for hundreds of orphans was only one challenge the ILF team faced. Flooded conditions, closed roadways, delayed flights due to weather and obtaining clearances from local government officials slowed the process of getting food, water and medical supplies to the children. "Although there were several extreme barriers to reaching many of the orphanages, we managed to achieve our goal of visiting all of the sites as planned," said Gautney.

More than 1,400 Haitian orphans are currently in the care of C3 Missions and ILF. ILF is the vision of Dan Tasset, chairman of Nueterra Healthcare, to provide basic medical care to the world's orphaned children. For more information, visit http://www.integrallifefoundation.com/.

Integral Life Foundation