By Lt. Nate Lasseur
West Palm Beach Fire Rescue
Founder of International Firefighters Assistance
I never intended to get involved in the fire service and public safety scene of Haiti to the extent that I am now. In 2000, during a visit to my parents’ homeland, I made a casual visit to a local fire station in the city of Port-au-Prince. Being a firefighter and a collector of fire memorabilia, I stopped by the station to possibly exchange T-shirts & patches.
There’s a unity, a connection with all firefighters and of course I had an instant bond with the Haitian firefighters. This was the first time they had a visit from an American firefighter who also spoke their language. However, after touring the station, I was shocked and saddened by the condition of the firehouse and how the firefighters were living compared to my colleagues back in the United States.
The firefighters had very little supplies and equipment, most of them responded to emergencies wearing just street clothes and fought fires with no protective gear. The few fire apparatus that were in operation were in extremely poor condition with empty compartments. That visit also opened my eyes to the terrible state of the country’s fire service. So on that day, I made a promise to be an advocate for the Haitian firefighters and their situation. This was the beginning of a new mission: A mission devoted to helping firefighters in this poor country.
Two years later, I returned to Haiti with donated fire gear and equipment from local firefighters in South Florida. This started a movement which led to many more trips and eventually the founding of International Firefighters Assistance, Inc. IFA is a non-profit organization established to assist firefighters and emergency rescue workers in underprivileged countries with the equipment and training as well as the support needed to better prepare for emergencies and disasters.
On November 7, 2008, during one of my trips to Haiti, a school collapsed outside the capital. Nearly 100 students and teachers were tragically killed in this horrific accident. My involvement in the rescue effort of that tragedy allowed me to work directly with the Haitian firefighters. Our team was instrumental in saving many lives including a six year old child who was trapped under heavy debris for over 15 hours.
After the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, members of IFA along with other American firefighters were on the ground within 48 hours of the incident. We spent several days on a search & rescue mission and were able to save many victims from the rubble.
One month later, IFA returned to Haiti on a relief mission to deliver care packages to the Haitian firefighters and their families. Many firefighters were directly affected by the tragedy and some had lost their entire family. Although we were able to bring temporary aid to over 200 homeless earthquake victims, it still felt like a grain of sand compared to so many more people who needed our help.
With the exception of the international airports, there are only two functioning fire stations in all of Haiti. The capital city of Port-au-Prince has only one fire station for a population of over 3 million people. Because of Haiti’s lack of professional emergency responders, we have expanded our training from the fire department to the general public.
Realizing that civilians who are trained in emergency preparedness increase the chance of survival in emergencies and disasters, IFA started teaching skills such as CPR, basic first aid, fire safety, and other life saving techniques to the general public so they can better assist their communities during urgent situations when professional responders are unavailable.
IFA recently developed ProjectHELP — Haiti Emergency Lifesavers Program, to assist communities in taking care of their families & and neighbors in the aftermath of major disasters as well as personal crisis. This program was launched in June 2010 with members of the Scouts of Haiti. Over 100 adult scouts were trained to be emergency responders. We hope to eventually train 3,000 more scouts in the near future.
As difficult as it may be, I’m still optimistic about the future of Haiti and our part in the rebuilding process. There have been small improvements that are evident. The enthusiasm to learn shown by the citizens is obvious with each training and mission trip that we do. Prior to our involvement, Haitian firefighters were not given much value.
Now there are discussions among government leaders to provide better training and education for firefighters as well as constructing more fire stations throughout the country. Of course, progress is slow. Haiti faces so many challenges; with new issues such as the recent cholera epidemic, the 2010 earthquake is an afterthought for some Haitians. However, IFA remains focused on our goal of improving public safety for the people of Haiti, regardless of these obstacles.