Natural Disasters

On Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. It devastated the country, killing an estimated 160,000 people. CNN immediately sent a large contingent of newsgathering crews to the location, including a team headed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Being from the Medical Unit, Sanjay was there to focus on the medical issues that arise in such a disaster. But, as Dr. Gupta once said himself, “Yes I am a reporter, but a doctor first.” Being a doctor first, he was called on several times to put his reporter duties aside and help with the medical aid. He treated a 15-day-old Haitian girl with head injuries, whose mother had perished during the quake. Later, he single-handedly staffed a field hospital that was abandoned by a Belgian medical team that left for security reasons. On another occasion, he performed brain surgery on a 12-year-old girl aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson that was anchored off the coast of Port-au-Prince. In between these medical procedures, he filed field reports and even interviewed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. These are the surgical mask and hat he wore during the operation aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson.