Feb 03, 2010 - 04:30 AM

By Chris Hall

SCUGOG -- When Dr. Anthony Brown closes his eyes, a flood of vivid memories come rushing into view.

Pain and suffering. Death and destruction.

"It's burned into my mind, it's imprinted in my mind forever," said Dr. Brown recently, days after returning home to Port Perry after spending a week in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Joined by Port Perry's Dr. Paul Puckrin, a third physician from the Niagara area and a team of 11 paramedics from Halton Region, Dr. Brown and the group of medical professionals responded to the Caribbean nation's call for help after an earthquake struck on Jan. 12.

Hundreds of thousands are now reported dead, with unknown numbers missing and seriously injured.

"It was probably the most horrendous experience in my career and my life. There was an outstanding amount of suffering," said Dr. Brown, a medical advisor with Feed The Children, a Christian, international non-profit relief organization.

As an FTC relief team, the group made its way to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Jan. 19 on a flight chartered by the Canadian International Development Agency. The group arrived in the stricken city just an hour after a second earthquake struck.

Once on the ground, the team was whisked away to the Mission of Hope facility, a centre on the northern edges of Port-au-Prince supported by FTC, which served as base of operations for nearly a week.

Each day, under stifling hot conditions, the team would get marching orders from United Nations officials. And, each day, the team members would cram into the back of a chicken truck for the 40-minute trek into the heart of the Haitian capital to treat the survivors who had made their way to what remained of the University General Hospital.

Laying in beds, propped up under tropical trees or just sitting still in the mud and dirt on the ground, patients filled the courtyard and awaited the medical team every day.

"There were patients everywhere. It was organized chaos," recalled Dr. Brown, estimating that 300 Haitians were waiting for them the first day.

From dawn to dusk, the medical team worked alongside health-care professionals from around the globe, moving from patient to patient.

Hundreds of patients needed to have limbs amputated; the surgery was carried out in the courtyard under the trees that provided shade.

Other patients suffered from broken bones and compound fractures. It wasn't uncommon for physicians to be greeted by young children with shattered bones sticking out their legs, left untreated for more than a week after the earthquake struck, said Dr. Brown.

Wounds were cared for, intravenous lines were prepped, dressings were checked, antibiotics were handed out and morphine was administered.

"That was one of the big things, just being able to provide some comfort measures for them," said Dr. Brown, who spent thousands of dollars before he left Scugog to load up on medications such as painkillers.

"To give them some morphine and give them three or four hours of comfort was incredible."

Each day, the tents that filled the hospital grounds multiplied, each with about 20 new patients to care for. Team members did what they could for each patient, some of whom were shuttled off via ambulance or helicopter for further care elsewhere.

Every one of the injured was hurt during the 20 seconds the earthquake lasted, noted Dr. Brown. Ten days or more later, hundreds were still lining up for emergency care.

"We just moved from patient to patient, doing what we could. There was no time for emotion, just no time," said Dr. Brown. "We did what we did, we were sort of on auto-pilot. The amount of trauma we'd see in a day, you wouldn't see that in one year at home."

There was little time in the day to assess the destruction across Port-au-Prince, but what Dr. Brown did observe has left him shaking his head.

"The damage is just unbelievable," he said.

One building would be just rubble, while another next to it would be half-destroyed. A third nearby would only have a few cracks in its exterior walls.

Countless Haitians lined the streets, trying to locate and remove their belongings, or loved ones, from the mountains of debris.

"That level of devastation, you just don't see that very often," said Dr. Brown.

He's unsure of how the Haitian people will rebuild their homes, city and country. But he knows they have the spirit to do so.

Travelling by bus to airport, just prior to returning home, Dr. Brown witnessed a collection of Haitians playing soccer in a field amidst the homeless and injured. A moment of fun, surrounded by death and destruction.

"They're beautiful people who've been through so much. They have that survival instinct, they're going to move on," said Dr. Brown.

As for what the future holds for Dr. Brown and his link to the dirt-poor island nation, the veteran physician is already contemplating a return trip for later this year.

He acknowledged he and his medical team played a small part in the relief efforts when it comes to the big picture. But nonetheless, Dr. Brown's happy with his contribution.

"The suffering was palpable. But to at least be able to give hope and be able to give help to get the Haitians back on their feet, it was an honour. It was an absolute honour to be involved," said Dr. Brown.

"It was very satisfying to be part of this relief effort, but it was an absolute catastrophe around us and at times we wondered how much of a difference we were making," he said.

"But by the end, we could see that a (relief) structure was getting into place and that we were bringing comfort and peace to the people there.

"It's just the beginning though. They've got a tough life ahead."