An emergency room doctor is heading to Haiti to tend to victims of last week's massive earthquake — and she is looking for volunteers to help in the coming months.

Tiffany Keenan, who works at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, will set off today or tomorrow for the Caribbean country, where she plans to help the United Nations with disaster relief efforts in the southern city of Jacmel.

It won't be the first time she has worked in Haiti. The 38-year-old, who lives in Paget, set up the Haiti Village Health charity several years ago and has a clinic in the northern part of the island, run by locals.

The humanitarian crisis unfolding there now has prompted her to give up a planned three-week vacation and return to the devastated land.

She told The Royal Gazette: "It's incredible because I just know the amount of suffering that the people are going through. I know how difficult life was in Haiti beforehand and this just compounds it a thousandfold."

The doctor, originally from New Brunswick, Canada, has joined forces with Bermudian charity worker Phillip Rego and a Haitian living here, Frigga Simmons, to set up a Bermuda-based support group for Haiti.

They are looking for cash donations and people willing to go to Haiti in the next few months.

Dr. Keenan explained: "What we had originally wanted to do was have our own medical team [go out there] but the logistics are very, very difficult now.

"Instead, we are amassing a list of volunteers. Our hope is that we will be able to send a medical team but it's going to be several weeks before a team will go down. I plan to be down there for a month."

The group is also pulling together information for Bermudians who want to help Haiti and has set up a Facebook page under the name Bermuda For Haiti Disaster Relief Fund.

Dr. Keenan said she, Mr. Rego — whose charity has a clinic in Port-au- Prince — and Ms Simmons needed people with medical skills, such as doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as general support staff, including handymen.

"We want to encourage anyone from Bermuda that wants to go or if they want to support it financially or wants to know more about it, just to link in with us," she added.

"If people are interested in helping we can direct them to the proper channels because we have experience working in that environment."

• Nurse Diane Flood is coordinating volunteers for the Bermuda For Haiti Disaster Relief Fund and can be e-mailed at norflo@ibl.bm.

• Donations can be made to Haiti Village Health via Bank of Bermuda account number 010-871135-001 or via the website www.haitivillagehealth.ca.

• Feed My Lambs Ministry's Bank of Bermuda account number is 010-305498-012 or donate at www.feedmylambsministry.org or by post to Feed My Lambs Ministry, PO Box HM 3184, Hamilton HM NX.

• Donations can also be made to Bermuda Red Cross, via two bank accounts: Bank of Bermuda — 010-187417-011 and Bank of Butterfield — 20-006-060-663859-200 or by mail to Bermuda Red Cross, Haitian Earthquake Appeal Fund, Charleswood, 9 Berry Hill Road, Paget, DV03.

• The Genesis Foundation is sending a container to Haiti and needs first aid supplies, water, canned goods, non-perishable goods, rope, tarpaulins and the like. The container will be at Karriermuir, 41 Pitts Bay Road, from today until Friday (Jan 22) from noon to 7 p.m. Questions can be sent to jadams@osmiumcapital.com or gitte@genesis-foundation.co.uk.

.