Merlin in Haiti: Like a Scene out of M*A*S*H

Some of the following photos may seem like they come from a modern remake of the classic TV series M*A*S*H, but they're actually photos taken by Jeroen Oerlemans. The medics you see are not American army medics in Korea in the 1950s, but doctors and nurses from the UK working with Merlin (Medical Emergency Relief International) in Haïti in 2010. They're currently working out of tents set up on a tennis court, which has earned the makeshift surgical centre the appropriately prestigious nickname Wimbledon.

These guys and gals are really amazing people. I've been lucky enough to meet several of them on two occasions now - the first was in October when we sent a surgical team to Padang, Indonesia following an earthquake that killed 784 people in that area. Just 8 days ago, they bought me a beer as we discussed their departure from London and I took notes on more items they needed us to procure for them. It's been really great being part of a team assisting these trained professionals from afar; almost all the gear you see in these photos - including the headlamps, the tents they're working in, the generators outside the tents providing power, and the scrubs they're wearing - were procured and sent to Haïti by a small team of friendly logistics experts at Merlin head office in London, working their butts off to make sure these doctors and nurses have what they need to operate.

All the photos below were taken by Jeroen Oerlemans. Please see http://www.Merlin.org.uk/ for more information about our response to the Haiti earthquake and other crises around the world.