Doctors from Bermuda operated on 70 survivors of the Haiti earthquake in the first three days of this week.

Giving an update on their work yesterday, Dr. Christopher Johnson said: "We are so blessed to be here and we continue to do what we can."

He and doctors Stanley James and Alicia Stovell-Washington arrived in the devastated Caribbean country on Sunday. They're accompanied by a number of Bermuda-based medical technicians, and since Monday have been treating patients at a medical clinic funded by Bermudian Phillip Rego, in Bon Repos, near Port-au-Prince.

Reporting on Wednesday's caseload, Dr. Johnson said: "Twenty-two procedures were performed today, bringing our total number of surgeries to 70 procedures. I write to you from the seat of a 'Tap Tap', the traditional open-air truck that the locals pack themselves in for transport.

"Our van went to the frontier to collect badly needed supplies that were routed via the Dominican Republic [DR]. Our workday was busy, and the air in our makeshift operating rooms was thick with humidity and flies. So many of patients require daily debridements of deeply infected neglected wounds."

He said one eight-year-old patient presented a particular challenge. He was brought to them with an infected fracture of the foot and a temperature of 103 that they were unable to quell.

The doctors were puzzled as the young boy appeared to have no other symptoms. Eventually, after consultation with Dr. James, he was diagnosed with malaria.

"Please understand, we have no working lab upon which to confirm our diagnosis," explained Dr. Johnson. "We only have our hands, stethoscopes, thermometer, education, and our hearts. Fortunately after several hours the fever broke and we heaved a great sigh realising on the one hand, the poverty of our abilities without our CT Scans, MRIs and other technologies, and on the other hand, the joy that something as simple as relieving the fever of a suffering child can bring in the midst of this."

Dr. Johnson explained that a Médecins Sans Frontières helicopter has been ferrying the sickest patients from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic.

The Bermuda medical team is in Haiti thanks to the sponsorship of local and international companies and individual donations.

Meanwhile, another aid mission from Bermuda, sponsored by the Cornerstone Foundation, is due to arrive in Haiti today. They plan to set up a field hospital in Grand Goave in conjunction with the US medical aid organisation Angel Wings International.

In addition, Bermuda Container Line (BCL), Bermuda International Shipping and Somers Isles Shipping have donated $30,000 to the Bermuda Red Cross Haiti relief fund.

A press statement issued yesterday by BCL explained: "To date the lines have not been able to assist in shipping relief goods from Bermuda, as shipping lines servicing Haiti were not able to accept bookings due to the high volumes of bookings they are receiving from within the USA. Currently these lines are only accepting cargo from recognised aid agencies such as the Red Cross and other established aid agencies."