On September 12, 2026, Haiti’s National Ambulance Center (CAN) gathered key domestic and international stakeholders at Port-au-Prince’s Royal Hotel to mark World First Aid Day with a day of strategic reflection and collective mobilization focused on transforming the country’s fragmented emergency response infrastructure. Convened under the theme “Strengthening the Emergency Response Chain in Haiti for a More Resilient Emergency Management System”, the event was led by CAN Director General Dr. Ricardo Jean Baptiste, with administrative support from his senior leadership team including Director of Administration and Budget Hansy Beethoven Joseph.
Attendees included high-ranking officials and institutional partners spanning multiple sectors: Cheng Hao Hu, Ambassador of Taiwan (Republic of China) to Haiti; Haitian Minister of the Environment Valéry Fils-Aimé; Director General of Haiti’s National Civil Protection Emmanuel Pierre; emergency response units from the Haitian National Police; delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Delmas municipal firefighting teams; and dozens of representatives from Haiti’s public and private health and emergency services sectors.
In his keynote address to attendees, Dr. Jean Baptiste outlined a sweeping multi-part plan to overhaul CAN operations across all 10 of Haiti’s administrative departments. The first core component of the plan is a full systemic reorganization of CAN’s emergency call handling workflow, designed to streamline intake, inter-agency coordination, and dispatch of emergency services to communities in need. Second, Dr. Jean Baptiste confirmed planned investments in upgraded life-saving medical equipment to reinforce CAN’s clinical capabilities, with the explicit goal of raising the standard of care for Haitian residents facing acute medical emergencies. The third major initiative is an infrastructure expansion project that will see nine new regional CAN administrative offices constructed across the country. This expansion is intended to address longstanding gaps in working conditions for frontline ambulance staff and extend CAN’s formal institutional presence to underserved rural and regional departments.
Dr. Jean Baptiste also used the occasion to publicly thank the ICRC for its critical ongoing support to CAN, highlighting a recently completed partnership that restored 13 idle CAN ambulances to active service. Funded through coordination with Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health, the ambulance repair project has already delivered measurable gains to the network’s response capacity by increasing the number of fully operational vehicles available for emergency deployments.
Following opening remarks, the day’s program progressed to two expert panels that centered on the most pressing challenges facing Haiti’s emergency management sector. The first panel, focused on the unique complexities of delivering first aid in Haiti’s growing migration context, featured a keynote presentation from Emmanuel Pierre and was moderated by Dr. Jeanty Fils Exalus, who also served as the event’s master of ceremonies. The second panel, which aligned with the day’s overarching theme of building a more resilient national emergency system, was moderated by Dr. Rose Anaëlle Pierre Jean, and brought together stakeholders to unpack both structural barriers to progress and untapped opportunities for system-wide improvement.
The event concluded with the formal launch of a new national regulatory initiative: the National Program for the Registration and Certification of Ambulance Companies and First Aid Training Schools, presented by Midelson Emmanuel Jr. Juste, coordinator of CAN’s Legal Unit. The new regulatory framework aims to formalize the fragmented emergency response sector, enforce consistent professional standards for practitioners, and improve the overall quality of first aid and emergency care accessible to Haitian communities across the country.