"We needed to respond to this, because this is what we do, this is our mission," she says.

After a senior management meeting, the organization decided to call Philips to ask for help. "Our CEO, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, knows the CEO of Philips [Steve Rusckowski]," says Puleo. "It seemed like a natural partnership."


Rusckowski immediately agreed to offer equipment, says Julie Milner, senior director of cardiac care marketing of Philips. The Saturday following the disaster, Philips' employees headed to the factory for a month's worth of urgent care supplies that would be useful in the upcoming mission.

"It was like a field day in the factory, grabbing intensive care monitors, spot check monitors and cardiographs," says Milner.

"Philips began as a health and well-being company, and everyone's mission is to promote that and live that. When the opportunity came along for people to get involved, there were an incredible amount of volunteers from all over the company," adds Mike Miller, Philips' senior vice president of cardiac care business.

More to do

The clinical team from Caritas is expected to stay in Haiti until Friday. Right now, their main goal is urgent care: emergency surgeries, mending broken bones and treating infections.

But as the recovery effort moves along, which could take years before it truly wraps up, Puleo says they'll "stay in touch with the people from Sacre Coeur. We're ready to send another team down if the needs are there."

As for the team in the country now, Puleo says when she spoke with Dr. Pearlmutter last Friday, he said "Everybody is fine, they're all extremely safe, and very tired and very energized."

"There are success stories and there are heartbreaks," he told her.

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