News
Riverview R.N. Rendered Aid After Haiti Earthquake
By Ryan Fennell
RED BANK - Florence Germain and her family had just presented their passports and boarding passes to the attendant at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and were preparing to board the U.S. bound plane when the unimaginable happened.
"We first heard the rumbling and tiles from the ceiling starting falling and then the earth started shaking," Germain recalled. "People were running and falling down. I grabbed my son and covered him under me. My husband grabbed him from under me and ran out with him."
Germain, a registered nurse at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and members of her family, including her eight-year-old son, three-year-old nephew, and eight-month old niece, had traveled from the U.S. to Haiti earlier in the week to attend the funeral of her late father.
What was a somber occasion for Germain and her family ultimately became a nightmare scenario for an entire nation.
According to Germain, after her husband had taken their son outside the building, the "first wave" of the earthquake stopped and people were able to regain their balance.
"We made it down to the first floor and that's when the second wave started," Germain said.
According to Germain the exit doors at the airport had evidently automatically locked and people were searching for an exit.
"My husband came back in for us and we were able to make it out through an emergency exit," Germain said. "That's when we realized what was going on. When we were in the building we didn't know if it was an earthquake or if it was some type of bombing going on or if a plane lost control."
Germain said that when they realized it was an earthquake, she and others ran for an open area in the parking lot where there were no buildings or trees or other structures that could collapse on them.
"After the major crisis people were coming to the airport looking for help thinking there was medical assistance at the airport but there was none," Germain said. "Throughout the night people were coming from the outside looking for help."
She recalled a taxi arriving with a distraught woman carrying the lifeless body of her child. The woman was severely stressed and all Germain and others could do was lay her on the ground.
"Fortunately there was a U.N. truck that had come to speak with police at the airport and they transported the woman out of the area."
"Later on," Germain recalled. "There was a family that lived in the states and the father got crushed under the home so his leg was literally crushed. They guy was in so much pain and he was so scared."
According to Germain there were two gentlemen attempting to calm the man down. One of the gentlemen gave the injured man painkillers and antibiotics that he had on him due to a previous injury.
"That's when my husband said 'Florence we need a nurse' so I ran over and the gentleman was trying to calm him down and used a bottle of rum as an antiseptic to keep the wound from being infected."
"There were no gloves. We were using plastic bags as gloves so we could keep ourselves safe," Germain added. "We tried to immobilize the leg. I told the lady we can't move him so we just poured rum on the wound and used clothing to make dressing and stabilized what we could."
Germain told a taxi driver on the scene to take the man to the nearest hospital because he needed medical care immediately.
"I told the woman to keep pouring the rum on the leg until they reached a hospital," said Germain. "That's one of the moments I remember because the family was there and the daughters were saying 'please help my father, don't let my father die.' It's impossible not to think about that because there was nothing. We could not do anything."
"That image - someone begging you to save someone's life and you're doing the best that you could with no equipment - I don't think that image will ever come out of my head."
Germain and her family eventually reached the U.S. Embassy early Wednesday morning where she said people were also coming in looking for help.
"It was unbelievable to see so many people hurt and so much devastation going on and not be able to do anything. That's one experience I will remember for the rest of my days."
At the embassy Germain and her family were issued new passports and were able to fly in a U.S. Coast Guard cargo plane to the Dominican Republican where they boarded a flight to the U.S. Germain arrived at JFK airport at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
Germain has family from both her mother's side and her father's side that are still in Haiti. Germain was able to get in touch with family in Haiti last Sunday and found out that no one is injured but their houses have collapsed.
"Every member of my family is accounted for and I'm grateful to the Lord because they're not hurt. They are outside but they are not hurt."
However, Germain said that help has not reached her family in Haiti. They still lack food and water.
"It's hard to take in," Germain said.
Germain has worked at Riverview Medical Center for the past eight years. She began as an aide and graduated from Brookdale Community College and has been a Registered Nurse at Riverview for the past two years.
She said that her training and experience as a nurse helped her make it through the devastation and help her family make it through as well.
"I was panicked. I was scared for my family but with a cool head because if I let my family know I was scared and panicking, they would panic as well. I just did what I was trained to do. I was still scared but I kept my calm."
Germain doesn't regret her decision to leave Haiti as soon as she could but said that she would love to return to help those that are still in need.
"If I wasn't with my son and family I would have stayed behind and helped," Germain said. "But with my only child my priority was to get him home safe."
"I want to say thank you to the people that are helping my country. It's so good to see there's still human kindness out there."
