CMAT Assessment Team Leader Kate Auger, and Director Dr. Pat San Agustin await instructions in the UN Compound near Kathmandu Airport – April 29, 2015.
Saturday May 2, 2015: The CMAT Assessment team conducted an assessment of the devastated region of Gorkha early Saturday morning, and completed a survey of the city, as well as several rural villages in the environs.
A car is crushed in a rockslide after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal April 25, 2015
The devastation in the region was nearly total, as homes and businesses could not withstand the power of the magnitude 7.9 tremor the region experienced on April 25th. Buildings had collapsed, rockslides blocked roads, and the community has moved to sleeping in the open, terrified of what the next aftershock might bring.
On instruction from the World Health Organization (WHO), the team visited several health facilities, birthing centres and community health centres to get a better picture of the needs of the population, and to report back their findings to the UN Health cluster. CMAT is to date, the only NGO assigned to this area. The popuulation of the village is about 2500 ppl, and it has a number of outlying communities which can be accessed to do small mobile clinics. This is a key location as it is 25km from the epicentre of the earthquake.
“The biggest concerns are ensuring we monitor for pneumonia and diarrhea, as they pose the greatest outbreak risk at this time,” says Kate Auger, NP, Vice-Chair of CMAT and Team Leader of the assessment team. “CMAT was the first team on the ground in this location in the very early days after the earthquake.”
Though the trip to Gorkha normally takes only 4-5 hours from Kathmandu, beyond that the team will be travelling through steep mountainous terrain. The road conditions from Kathmandu to Gorkha are excellent, but the passage to the selected site beyond Gorkha will be much slower as the roads are much more affected.
CMAT Medical Team 1 Departs for Nepal
CMAT Medical Team 1 gathers at Vancouver International Airport awaiting their flight to Nepal.
CMAT Team 1 was assembled over the past few days, and together with the field hospital, medical equipment and supplies, as well as medications supplied by Health Partners International Canada (HPIC) . Team members departed from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, and Vancouver International Airport, and will be greeted in Kathmandu by the assessment team in the late evening on Sunday May 3, 2015.
CMAT Team 1 Members are:
- Teresa Berdusco, RN (Team Leader) Edmonton, AB.
- Lucia Chu, RN from Vancouver, BC
- Tanya Correa, NP from Toronto, ON
- Carolyn Davies, NP from Amherstburg, ON
- Dr. Angela Derksen, MD from Winnipeg, MB
- Dr. Mark Gallow, MD from Windsor, ON
- Dr. Brad Granberg, MD from Calgary, AB
CMAT Team 1 Members setting off from Toronto.
- Joshua Henshaw, PCP from Victoria, BC
- Hanna Kabzems, RN from Edmonton, AB
- Edward Peters, ACP from Burnaby, BC
- Scott Ryder, PCP, from Surrey, BC
- Katherine Scott, RN from Canmore, AB
- Jason Stevens, ACP from Cumberland, BC
- Kevin Swalwell, Logistics from London, ON
- Jenette Ziegler, ACP from Burnaby, BC.
Special Thanks!
CMAT Director of Communications Lesley Eltom accepts a cheque from Arbor Memorial Foundation for CMAT’s relief efforts in Nepal.
CMAT would never be able to get off the ground without the generous help of our sponsors, supporters and donors. In the first week alone, our fundraising campaign on CanadaHelps.org raised over $40,000!
In addition to our individual donors, CMAT would like to thank the following supporters for their generous support:
Financial
Goods-in-kind
- Innovatek Medical
- TELUS Health
- Vision Travel
Services
