Peterborough medical team prepares for mission in Haiti

A group of Peterborough medics are off to Haiti this week to help residents still rebuilding from devastating earthquakes over the last decade.

The paramedics spent Sunday evening packing supplies for the mission in Grand-Goâve, a small town left in ruins by earthquakes in 2006. It’s the fifth year Peterborough medics have visited the region.

An eight-member team consisting of paramedics, nurses and a physician will join chaplain Bill Martin.

“It’s a short trip,” said Martin. “We will help out where we can and do some medical clinics.”

The group will work alongside Hope Grows, an organization started by Peterborough’s Gord and Heather Rodin. For more than a decade, Hope Grows has helped build new schools and houses and a church and runs a feeding program for more than 300 children.

The paramedics will work out of a recently constructed medical clinic.

“It’s a full-fledged clinic with a dispensary,” said Martin. “So we go down to help with the clinic. A Haitian nurse works there when we aren’t there. So we go down and restock it and run specialized clinics to serve the people while we are there.”

This year’s brigade will include Peterborough Police Service Deputy Chief Tim Farquharson, joining his wife Jenn who is a paramedic.

“He has gone before and he’s just a workhorse,” said Martin.

Martin spent 40 years as a paramedic and retired last year. He is also a volunteer pastor and the paramedic chaplain for Peterborough. He says the trips are an eye opener for new paramedics and an opportunity from them to switch up their daily routine.

“We try to bring new medics every year to augment our team to give them a chance to step out of box here and do something totally different down there.”