Fourth CMAT Team, first funded by CIDA to deploy to Pakistan on November 11

Wednesday, November 9, 2005: CMAT announced today that it is sending its fourth Canadian Medical Assistance Team (CMAT) to Pakistan quake affected territories on Friday, November 11. Team #4 will be the first CIDA-funded team that CMAT is deploying after being awarded $190,000 CAD from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) last week. The funding from CIDA represents matching funds for Pakistan Quake Relief given to CMAT and will be used to support its medical teams to Islamabad hospitals and CMAT field hospitals in and outside of Muzzaffarabad, Pakistan, over the next 6 months. CMAT is coordinating its efforts with the Rotary Club of Islamabad, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, as well as CIDA staff and the UN Health Cluster in Muzzaffarabad.

Team #4 will be departing for Islamabad from the Pakistan International Airlines ticket counter in Terminal #3 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto at 1700hrs (check in at 1400hrs).

CMAT established a wound care clinic near the UN compound which will also serve as a base of operations for deployment of additional teams. CMAT is currently in talks with officials at the UN Health Cluster on deployment of its advanced inflatable tent hospital to remote areas in the Kashmir region accessible only by helicopter. Many of these remote areas have not seen any medical attention as yet. The mobile hospital will feature advanced battery-powered electronic medical equipment and medical supplies all funded 100% by Michigan-based Mercy-USA  from a $22,000 USD grant awarded to CMAT. Medications for the mobile hospital will partly come from Montreal-based Health Partners International  through their popular “Physician Travel Pack” program.

Over 80,000 persons have died since the devastating October 8 quake with a second wave of deaths expected when the cold weather arrives in the area.

Team #4 is entirely female (an important need in these culturally sensitive areas) and includes the following eight individuals: Ms. Nancy Stephens (Pediatric Nurse/OB-GYN, London, Ontario), Ms. Carolyn Beukeboom (Nurse Practitioner, London, Ontario), Ms. Susan Robinson (Nurse Practitioner, Hamilton, Ontario), Ms. Elizabeth Grant (Advance Care Paramedic/Pediatric specialist, Vancouver, B.C.), Dr. Lynda Redwood-Campbell (Primary Care/Public Health physician/Clinical Professor, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario), Ms. Andrea Lavers (Emergency Nurse, Erin, Ontario), Ms. Jeanette Van Minnen (Emergency Nurse, Stoney Creek, Ontario), and Ms. Maida Hotilovac (Surgical Nurse, Toronto, Ontario).

CMAT is urgently appealing for volunteers for subsequent missions in the following specialties: physicians (primary care/mental health), nurses (wound care, public health, primary care and mental health), physiotherapists, orthotic/prosthetic specialists, social workers/counselors. All volunteers are requested to make a minimum three week commitment and are requested to be prepared to foot own airfare bills (to save on administrative expenses – tax receipts will be issued in accordance with CCRA guidelines). CMAT has funds available from CIDA to offset airfare expenses for deployments of three weeks or more. Please visit the volunteer portal to sign up. To reduce administrative burden on our volunteers, please do not call the CMAT office regarding status of applications. Instructions and information will be emailed to you after you apply on-line.

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