I went to Haiti in the wake of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, but those weeks treating mostly chronic conditions barely prepared me for my return to the country Nov. 19. This time, I was faced with acutely ill cholera patients requiring immediate life-saving treatment. The deadly outbreak erupted in October, and by the evening of my arrival at J/P Haitian Relief Organization housing in Port-au-Prince, more than 21,000 people were infected, with 1,250 deaths.

Early the next morning, J/P HRO co-founder Sean Penn received a call from Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, of Partners in Health, who said, “If you don’t send us any of your doctors and nurses you have available, people will die.” So our team of seven (four nurses, two translators and our driver/security guard) set off on the three-hour drive along broken roads through the beautiful, rugged mountains and countryside to Hopital Ste. Therese in Hinche.

I believe we were all shocked by the world we entered. Triage and short-term oral rehydration tents were staffed by Cuban and Mexican physicians and nurses, and three additional tents (men’s, women’s, children’s) and an old church served critical patients requiring IV rehydration. Each facility held up to 24 patients. The cholera treatment center was fenced off, and an attendant sprayed our shoes with a bleach solution upon entering or exiting. The church was downwind from the pit where medical waste, patients’ clothing and trash were burned.

The heavy canvas tents had tarp floors that were wet from the nonstop mopping of human waste. Tree roots and old foundations underneath presented trip hazards. Cots and cholera beds were crowded inside.

Our combined medical team had four U.S. RNs, two Canadian RNs, one U.S. physician and a small Haitian nursing staff. We became adept at positioning ourselves to start or manage IVs, and we found creative ways to secure the