In reference to the earlier comments on this thread about the Belgians. It's been my experience that doctors and nurses who travel to these disaster zones are very compassionate people - and they work tremendously hard. In fact, the biggest problem usually is that they tend to overwork themselves ... and eventually become exhausted. So as a rule - humanitarian teams don't decide to leave patients behind in am emergency.

Therefore, it's a pretty good bet that whatever factors alarmed the Belgians, they must have been very concerned about the safety of their volunteers. It is tough working in these third world environments. There are always some "bad actors" out there on the streets. Haiti has got some very bad gangs. The Belgian team did pretty well by trying to set up shop in a poor area of Port au Prince.

I maintain a rule with my own teams that I will never allow people to be working in questionable areas after dark - in the third world. It's usually a recipe for crime and disaster.

I think what really went wrong is that there was a fundamental breakdown in security. The Belgians were overly optimistic that they could handle the situation, and they just did not have the kind of security they needed to really operate in that kind of environment. Hopefully ... the arrival of US marines will go a long way towards sorting out the safety situation in Haiti's capital.

And I agree with Sheriff Blast - things are getting pretty grim when victims must go through amputations with just alcohol and a saw.

other Pete