Harry Hames presents Haiti's First Lady Sophia Martelly with an automated external defibrillator, or AED. (Photo via www.hii.org)

Now online, see our web-exclusive coverage of ministries helping Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Isaac.

Also, see our recent blog post about hurricane relief efforts in the U.S.

The Haiti story mentions the recent donation of a portable defibrillator by Nashville, Tenn.-based Healing Hands International to Haiti’s First Lady, Sophia Martelly. (Read a Healing Hands blog post about the donation, which resulted in a trip to the president’s home for HHI’s Haiti coordinator, Harry Hames.)

As HHI recounts in a recent blog post, the Haitian government put the defibrillator to good use:

For the first time since the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haiti held the three-day event known as the “Carnival of Flowers.” It was at this event that the AED that Healing Hands delivered to Mrs. Martelly a few weeks ago was put to use. A person at the celebration had a heart attack and was revived by the AED. Harry Hames received a call asking for more pads for the machine making sure it is always ready to be used. He was also told when the President of Haiti travels, the AED machine always goes with him. What wonderful news that our gifts are so well received and appreciated. All glory to God that one life has already been saved!

Read the full post.

Haiti’s First Lady recently posted the following quote on her Facebook page from an interview she did with National Public Radio:

First Lady Sophia Martelly (photo via www.facebook.com/SophiaMartelly)

“The international community can’t always provide us with technical assistance, because I think it’s time Haiti becomes responsible for its problems … and I am not going to say self-sustainable, but we are working at being able to assist our people.”