Haiti Cardiac Alliance works to identify children in Haiti who have potentially life-threatening heart problems, and link them to the care they need.

 

If you know of a specific child or young adult (25 and under) in Haiti who has or may have an untreated heart condition – whether their condition has already been diagnosed by a doctor, or they are displaying concerning symptoms such as a possible heart murmur, unusual shortness of breath, blue fingers and toes, and so on – please make a referral to us. We will seek to have the patient evaluated and diagnosed by a specialist, and if surgery is required we will work with partners to begin the matching process.

We do not have strict forms or rules for referral information, because we recognize that patient advocates are often working with incomplete information, formatted in many different ways. For us to be most effective, however, please send us an email with as much of the following information as possible, in English, French, or Haitian Creole:

• Name of patient and parent(s)
• Patient date of birth and gender
• Patient location (address or town)
• Telephone number(s) to contact the family directly – if possible, please provide three different numbers (neighbors, relatives, etc) to increase our chances of reaching them.
• As much detail about the child’s suspected heart problem as you have, including: what symptoms the child is having; how long they have had the symptoms; whether they have seen a doctor and what they have been told; and whether they are on medications now.
• If the child has any medical documents or records, photographs or scans of these are extremely helpful.
• Names and contact information for the child’s advocate(s) and those already involved in the case, including individual doctors; clinics/hospitals; volunteers; and others.
• Please send as much of this information as possible via email to referral@haiticardiac.org. You can expect a response from us within 3 business days.