Henry Reeve Cuban Medical Brigade Serving in Haiti

[flamingdem]

http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/international/2010-01-15/henry-reeve-cuban-medical-brigade-serving-in-haiti/


Henry Reeve Cuban Medical Brigade Serving in Haiti

Despite repeated aftershocks following the 7.2 earthquake that shook Haiti on Tuesday, a 60-member relief team of Cuban healthcare professionals is already providing medical assistance in that country

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2010-01-15 | 15:32:13 EST

Despite repeated aftershocks following the 7.2 earthquake that shook Haiti on Tuesday, a 60-member relief team of Cuban healthcare professionals is already providing medical assistance in that country.

The team is part of the Henry Reeve emergency medical brigade, a contingent of Cuban doctors specializing in disaster situations and epidemics created by Fidel Castro to bring professional assistance to peoples in need in any corner of the world.

In a catastrophe report published by the Cubadebate website, Cuban radio correspondent Isidro Fardales reports that this group of specialists brings the total number of Cuban doctors working in Haiti to 300, many of whom were sent to Puerto Principe in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Upon arriving in Haiti, Fardales reports the following, “We arrived at a field hospital located in the central courtyard of a place Haitians call the El Anexo, a facility within the Military Hospital facilities.

“There, under a big tent, Cuban surgeons tirelessly treat every patient that comes in, injured or mutilated; although the line of people waiting for assistance seems to stretch on forever.

“As I write this, our medical staff has already treated more than a thousand patients in little more than 24 hours, and dozens of them have undergone emergency life-saving surgery.

“Another field hospital has been set up in the Renacimiento Ophthalmology Center, the hospital that used to house the Milagros mission in Haiti.”

According to other reports, a medical team headed by anaesthesiologist Humberto Perez —one of the members of the relief team who arrived in Haiti on Wednesday— brought the three Cubans that were injured in the catastrophe back to the island. Cuban university student, Joel Melo Torres, who suffered serious physical injury, has been undergoing specialized care since Thursday at the intensive care unit of the Juan Bruno Zayas Hospital in Santiago de Cuba; while Alina Almeida Figueroa, from the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio; and Adalberto Bravo Carbonell, from Sancti Spiritus, escaped with minor injuries.

[Judi Lynn]

1. An American was honored by Cuba in naming the medical organization for him.

Here's his Wiki:

Henry Reeve (1850—1876) was a Brigadier General in Cuba's 'Ejercito Libertador' - more commonly known as the 'Ejercito Mambi' - during the Ten Years' War (1868-1878).

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA on April 4, 1850 and died in Matanzas, Cuba on August 4, 1876. Reeve was 27 years old at the time of his death, and had served in the Cuban Army for 7 years having participated in over 400 battles against the Spanish Army.

Upon becoming aware of the Cuban uprising initiated at 'La Demajagua' by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes in 1868, he promptly volunteered. He arrived in Cuba in 1869 aboard the ship Perrit as part of an Expeditionary Force.

The expedition was ambushed by the Spanish Army while unloading and Reeve was taken prisoner along with many others. A Spanish firing squad shot the group, and left them unburied and presumed dead. Reeve was wounded but had enough strength to creep away, and was found by units of the Cuban Army.

He was known as 'Enrique - El Americano' and nicknamed "El Inglesito" by Ignacio Agramonte y Loynáz, and he quickly rose under his command. Reeve in turn gave Agramonte his nickname: "El Mayor". He served with distinction initially under Agramonte and subsequently under Máximo Gómez y Báez.

Under Agramonte he participated in many actions, including the rescue of Julio Sanguily in 1871 where Agramonte, Reeve, and 34 others overcame a superior Spanish force of 120.

In one critical action he jumped over an artillery battery, lifting the morale of the Cuban fighters but was seriously wounded on a leg. For his actions he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.

Exposed to the harsh jungle conditions, he was told he would never walk or ride a horse again. Reeve persevered and with metallic braces he was able to walk, but had to be strapped to his mount in order to be able to ride his horse. He kept leading the famed Camagüey Cavalry Corps throughout the balance of his life.

After Agramonte's death at Jimaguayú in May 1873, Reeve presented Máximo Gómez to the legendary Camagüey Cavalry Corps. Under Gómez' command Reeve participated in the failed invasion of Western Cuba. Stranded in the province of Matanzas in 1876, the Spanish annihilated his small escort at Las Yagrumas; unable to ride, Reeve shot himself with his handgun before being captured.

Henry Reeve was honored by the Cuban government in 1976 on the centenary of his death with a postal stamp.

In response to Hurricane Katrina, Cuba assembled 1,586 humanitarian doctors to offer to assist the United States. The offer was declined, and on September 19, 2005 Fidel Castro created the Henry Reeves International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disasters and Serious Epidemics in honor of him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Reeve_(soldier)

Cuban doctors are known world-wide for their unflagging concern and aid to people in emergency situations.

They have been assisting in Haiti at various times attending people shot and otherwise injured by death squads and warfare against the people.

[flamingdem]

2. Thanks Judy, I was wondering about that name! nt

[Downwinder]

3. On Magbana:

Cuban Medical Brigade, Refused by Bush During Katrina, Treated Over 1,000 Haitians in 24 Hours, Including Dozens of Life-Saving Surgeries

http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/cuban-medical-brigade-refused-by-bush-during-katrina-treated-over-1000-haitians-in-24-hours-life-saving-surgeries/

[flamingdem]

4. Impressive, very efficient and of course not much mention on CNN

but there was a mention on MSNBC