Since the relief effort in Haiti began, the U.S. military has arranged for airlifts of critically injured victims to American hospitals. However, as of late yesterday, the airlifts are on hold.
The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care is settled, military officials said Friday.
The military flights, usually C-130s carrying Haitians with spinal cord injuries, burns and other serious wounds, ended on Wednesday after Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida formally asked the federal government to shoulder some of the cost of the care.
Crist wrote a letter to HHS saying that Florida couldn't handle the costs of flying in 30 to 50 people a day without help from Washington. It sounds like a reasonable request, since Florida has received the bulk of patients. Private airlifts are still underway, but as you might expect medically-equipped private planes aren't exactly cheap. Also, they can only carry one to two patients at a time. Hopefully the flights can resume as early as tonight, or Monday at the latest
However, the NYT reports that the airlifts might have been put on hold in any event due to a communication problem between the military and the hospitals.
A military spokesman said that the military had ended the flights because hospitals were becoming unwilling to take patients.
"The places they were being taken, without being specific, were not willing to continue to receive those patients without a different arrangement being worked out by the government to pay for the care," said Maj. James Lowe, the deputy chief of public affairs for the United States Transportation Command.
Florida officials, meanwhile, said the state’s hospitals had not refused to take more patients. Jeanne Eckes-Roper, the health and medical chairwoman of the domestic security task force for the South Florida region — where the Super Bowl will be played on Feb. 7 — said she had requested only that new patients be taken to other areas of the state, like Tampa.
Eckes-Roper's account sounds more believable, since the hospitals need to be ready in case of a major emergency at the Super Bowl.
Whatever the case, hopefully things will move quickly this weekend.