** Guest blog by Katie Kallio, Information and Reporting Delegate in Haiti. Katie is part of the team working in the new Canadian Red Cross field hospital.
Setting up an 80 bed field hospital takes time - however, with the number of cholera cases growing each day, time is a luxury our team simply does not have. But what we lack in time we more than make up for in will and determination.
Our team has grown significantly in the last week, from 14 Canadians to a team of at least 100 strong. Our team now includes delegates from the International Red Cross, staff from the Haitian Red Cross, a Carrefour community advisory committee, local nurses, doctors and security guards and of course, the backbone of any Red Cross operation, our team includes local volunteers.
And together this new 'super team' has done the extraordinary - opened a cholera treatment centre only 30 hours after the first box arrived on-site in Carrefour.
Last night at 6:00 our team opened our doors to patients. Over the next three to four months those doors will stay open 24-hours a day 7 days a week.
As patients start to trickle in there will undoubtedly be new challenges ahead of us but together, I am confident this new 'super team' will rise to these challenges and make our other 'super team', the one in Canada, very proud.
