Paramedics off to Haiti

After learning about Haitian children living in poverty, Windsor EMS paramedics Deanna Owen and Kim Schroeder are organizing a medical mission in a bid to make a difference outside their community.

In March, Schroeder began doing research into Haiti, telling Owen about the desperate poverty there. When Owen thought of her two daughters living like that, she decided she wanted to help.

“It’s always in the back your head that people need help,” Owen said. “You can’t help thinking about how good life is here and how much they struggle there. We’re available to help, we have the resources.”

Schroeder came up with the idea of going to Haiti. He’d done outreach through his church with some of Windsor’s vulnerable population, he said, but he wanted to do more.

“As medics, we give daily to the community. It’s fulfilling. But there are so many more people out there we can help,” Schroeder said.

The trip has grown from Owen, Schroeder and a few friends to include 21 people, divided between paramedics, nurses and their family members. Medics4Healing will be partnering with Mission for Hope, visiting different towns and providing medical services during the eight-day mission.

They’ve already raised $4,000 for medical supplies — over-the-counter drugs, medicine, and first aid kits — and plan on raising a total of $10,000 before the trip in October.

Haiti has struggled to rebuild since a devastating earthquake five years ago. According to the United Nations, it has received $31.8 million in humanitarian aid in 2015 alone, with Canada being the highest national donor, contributing $2.8 million this year.

Since planning for the trip began, Owen has filled up her mom’s house with donated medical supplies.

This is the second time Owen will be going overseas on a medical mission. In 2000, she and her brother went to Zambia to work at a clinic run by their cousin.

Sandra Pizzuti said her daughter has always been determined. It was Owen’s idea to go to Zambia, and she came back with her mind set on becoming a doctor. Now 35, she’s working as a paramedic and at the University of Windsor Cancer Research Lab while continuing her education.

“Deanna will do what she sets her mind to do. I admire her in that and I don’t discourage it,” Pizzuti said. “Deanna just feels the need to help her fellow human beings.”

Anyone interested in donating to the mission can visit the group’s page on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/medics4healingHaiti/