Haiti

" "We have run out of IVs and IV needles and IV fluids," said Dr. Mark Hyman of the medical relief organization Partners in Health. "We've run out of surgical supplies. We have to wash with vodka, and we have to operate with hacksaws because we don't have enough operating tools."

The military is going to help with organization and supplies, Hyman said. "They're going to help us get electricity, they're going to help us get food, they're going to help us get tents, they're going to help us get all the operating supplies in," he said.

Early Wednesday, 3 million Haitians were still in need of food, water, shelter and medical assistance, the United Nations estimated." - CNN.com, 01/20/10

Despite CNN's excellent coverage of the disaster in Haiti, I still feel like American newswatchers are being sheltered from the worst of it. How do they isolate the dead from the living? On half a small island, with an estimated 200,000 dead or dying, and hundreds of thousands more at risk of infection from the dead bodies and from the refuse amassing in the refugee camps, how do you maintain sanity?

That's a medical and logistical nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. It's worse than the hell imagined by medieval sculptors and painters wishing to scare churchgoers straight.

It's difficult to think about, heartbreaking to picture, and almost impossible to conceptualize the extent of the damage done by the earthquake. It's also frustrating knowing that there's very little I personally can do to help. However, as I was reminded yesterday by a friend, Haiti isn't the only place in need, and I can have a positive effect on people and places more immediate to me.