Haiti crisis brings out the best and questionable in people

Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Watching this story continuously since Wednesday is the most difficult emotional event in memory for me. The death and destruction is too vast to comprehend. The response from people has been genuine, humane and heroic in many cases during the crisis.

Heroes – without slighting anyone

All of the mothers, fathers, children and people of Haiti for suffering so much but keeping their will to survive.

Wyclef Jean. raggae singer, for mobilizing the internet to aid his fellow countrymen from the first moments after the tragedy and returning home with his family to pitch in.

CNN reporters and their crew who arrived early and stayed in the thick of the story no matter how dangerous to themselves personally.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for stopping his reporting job to care for the sick, especially the little baby and staying virtually alone last night when the UN doctors pulled out. Here are his tweets

sanjayguptaCNN at field hosp. the UN evacuated the docs, but my crew stayed with me. 25 patients – injured badly, but we are making sure they get good care
“sanjayguptaCNN 345a. pulling all nighter at haiti field hosp. lots of work, but all patients stable. turned my crew into a crack med team tonight. #proud
“sanjayguptaCNN All my thanks, blessings and well wishes to @daniellecnn, @timcrock, and jonathan schaer for sticking with me tonight here in haiti hosp.”
sanjayguptaCNN 5a update. we lost all generator power. sun will come up in about 30 minutes. now confident we will get all these patients through the night

First responders who jumped into action like Fairfax VA Fire and Rescue – people who went on site, sometimes without official sanction, and started trying to rescue people and help the sick and dying.

Generous donors around the world who opened their hearts and wallets to help the people of Haiti

Men and women in and out of uniform from around the world who are making their way to Haiti to aid in the emergency

Aid agencies who have struggled in Haiti and other countries in need for decades and now are taxed to the limit

Cuba and the US for putting aside decades of animosity to allow US planes to land in Havana, saving hours and lives.

Everyone who is trying to help.

Not-so-heroic

UN officials who pulled doctors and medical supplies from hospital last night. They could have found some military help to keep the peace. Dr, Gupta stayed with three of his co-workers and no one tried to harm them all night. The UN can be a place of bureaucratic idiocy during a crisis.

Six nurses on vacation who returned to Canada from Haiti yesterday all seemingly in good shape. Interviewed at the airport one said they would go back in a heartbeat next week. “We’re happily going to get our volunteers and bring them home,” said Lou Geense who was driving to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to greet the remaining six nurses. All but Paton are from the Kitchener-Waterloo area.” Barrie Examiner. Aren’t people dying now?

CBC’s Neil MacDonald for his knock-the-Americans story about US immigration policy. CBC jingoism at its worst during a time of crisis, it represents smug, Canadian liberal hypocrisy. Shame on CBC.

Let’s hope the heroes outnumber those who are not making the cut.