Frederica Freyberg:
We checked in with our next guest last month just before she left the states to treat earthquake victims in Haiti. Since that time, Milwaukee-based physician Catherine Wolf says she and her team of doctors and nurses have treated more than 1,000 trauma patients in a tent clinic in Port-au-Prince. She has been volunteering with Relief International. She has spent the last few days resting and re-supplying in Miami. She returns to Haiti later tonight and joins us now by telephone. Thanks very much so doing so.

Catherine Wolf:
Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So we understand again that you and your team initially treated more than 1,000 patients the week you landed in Port-au-Prince. What was that scene like that awaited you on those first few days?

Catherine Wolf:
It was overwhelming to see the state of the city, roads that we had walked and traveled on just a few months ago were totally devastated. Buildings down, including the government palace. So the whole scene in the city was really quite overwhelming for those of us who were familiar with it. One of the biggest issues was trying to find a place to set up a clinic. There were large crowds of people living in temporary shelters. But assuring security for a team of physicians and nurses was a difficult thing. So we took a day just to look around the city and decided to stay in a house belonging to one of my co-workers. And we set up tents, and the next day began seeing patients in the area.

Frederica Freyberg:
What kinds of injuries were you treating?

Catherine Wolf:
Well, the first few days we saw a lot of people with lacerations that had been un-sutured and not taken care of. There were wound infections where they had received some initial care, then the wound had gotten infected. We also saw many people with fractured bones, broken bones that had not been splinted or taken care of. There were people walking around on broken ankles and broken feet and legs. Many of those we were able to transport to other hospital facilities where they could receive care.

Frederica Freyberg:
Is there still an overwhelming need for this kind of medical treatment?

Catherine Wolf:
Within the two weeks that we were there, there was a change from the more traumatic injuries related to the earthquake itself to more medical-type issues. Almost everyone was sleeping outside. And a lot of the young children and infants were getting colds and pneumonia. So there were a lot of people coming in at the end of our time there with fevers and pneumonia, diarrhea. So it's changed from being more traumatic injuries to being more medical problems. But there is a huge need still for medical personnel. Relief International, which is the group that we went down with, are still there and they will maintain a presence for many months to come in Port-au-Prince. We with our own organization, Friends for Health in Haiti, are head out to Jeremie where we have our own clinic. We expect that will be very busy. Up to 30,000 people have been predicted to migrate from Port-au-Prince into the Jeremie area. So we are sure we'll be busy once we get home.

Frederica Freyberg:
What about the infrastructure, the availability of water, food and electricity. Is that improving?

Catherine Wolf:
I think it depend on what area in the city you are in. Electricity is never good even in the capitol city. They have not turned on electricity in a lot of areas because of concerns about fire. Water is starting to be pumped through the pipes that are existing. In the area where the clinic was located we did have running water coming from the city. Food is very scarce, it is available. But a lot of people don't have money because their money has been buried under the rubble along with their personal possessions. Food aid will be an important part of the relief effort for months to come.

Frederica Freyberg:
Dr. Wolf, thank you for your work and best to you as you proceed with the care in Haiti.