disaster Archives - Page 3 of 17 - Canadian Medical Assistance Teams

CMAT/ HF Team arrives in Honduras – local roads impassable

2020 - Honduras Hurricanes, Disaster Monitoring

**Traffic and Pedestrians are stranded on a major highway which was washed out by Hurricane Iota.**

2020-11-17 – La Entrada, Honduras (With special thanks to the HF/CMAT Team Leader Brian Wilson for this update):

“This morning we woke up to find out that all internet into our region was down. This means that we had no wifi, and no cellular data, which is important because these days a LOT of coordination is done using WhatsApp which requires data. We went back to “old school” methods, like SMS messages and calling people… (sheesh, it’s like we were back in the dark ages!)

We requested that CICOM provide us with a police escort to get us the last 2.5 hours into San Pedro Sula. Unfortunately they told us the bridges were not passable. We then sent a team to investigate the situation first-hand, and found that 15 minutes out of town, the only highway was completely flooded. We explored options of trying to find another way, by going further south, but have been told that highway is also impassable.

In the meantime, using SMS to relay messages through another NGO, we confirmed that CICOM knew where we were, and they have now requested that we setup to provide medical clinics in the immediate region until access into San Pedro Sula can be logistically sorted out. We have been contacted by a local medical officer, who stated they would be in contact tomorrow to coordinate our efforts. Below is a short video showing the flooded road as viewed by our Deputy Team Lead, Hassan Naeem. Tomorrow is a new day, and the team looks forward to getting to work while we wait for instructions on how best to reach the hardest hit regions.”

Donate here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/42951 or via e-transer/PayPal to [email protected]

CMAT/ Humanity First collaborative EMT departing for Honduras

2020 - Honduras Hurricanes, Disaster Monitoring, News

November 16, 2020 – Toronto, ON: The CMAT and Humanity First Canada Collaborative Emergency Medical Team gathered in Toronto this evening to prepare for tomorrow’s team deployment to Honduras. Good luck team!! #EMTeams #EMTAmericas

Please Donate here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/42951 or via e-transfer/ PayPal at [email protected]

EMERGENCY ALERT: CMAT to deploy medical team to Honduras in response to twin hurricanes.

2020 - Honduras Hurricanes, Disaster Monitoring

cone graphic — Map courtesy of National Hurricane Center

November 15, 2020 – San Pedro Sula, Honduras: Less than two weeks after powerful Hurricane Eta killed more than 200 people across Central America, authorities on Saturday warned that tropical storm Iota is likely to wallop coastal areas of Nicaragua and Honduras on Monday as a major hurricane.

In collaboration with our partner Humanity First Canada, and with guidance from the Pan American Health Organization, CMAT will be mobilizing its medical team to the affected region in Northern Honduras in the next 24 to 48 hours, in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Iota.

The Collaborative CMAT/ Humanity First medical team was assembled over the past few days, and together with medical equipment and supplies, will deploy as two EMTs Type 1 Mobile. Team members due to depart Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in the coming days.

2020 Hurricane Eta: Facts and how to help | World Vision — A scene in Honduras, where people are left homeless after Hurricane Eta. “They are sleeping in nylon bags, which they use as a roof as well. The only clothes they have are the ones that they were wearing at the moment they had to leave,” says Rafael Zaldívar, a World Vision staff member in Honduras. (Photo ©2020 World Vision/photo by Rafael Zaldívar)

Your support of it critical in this time of need. Please help CMAT and Humanity First provide medical assistance for the Honduran people at this devastating time, when they are most at risk. Donate now, so that together, we can save lives.

Tax-deductible donations gratefully accepted at: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/42951 or by email transfer or paypal to [email protected]

CMAT Emergency Alert: Nepal Earthquake – Update #7

2015 - Nepal Earthquake

CMAT Team Two gathers in front of the field clinic in Baluwa, Nepal. (With local translators and driver)

May 30, 2015 – Takukot, Nepal – With special thanks for this contribution to Jill Allison, Logistician with Team 3!

Dr. Tonia Temperley-Berg getting her heart checked, just to make sure it hasn’t completely melted yet.

“Long journey from Kathmandu to Takukot in Gorkha district. We drove for ten hours on roads that grew ever narrower, on steeper cliffs and higher up the mountainside. We passed through villages where nearly every house was a pile a rubble. We passed houses with cracks and sagging rooflines and missing backsides. We passed trees laden with flowers in front of scarred walls and crumbling porches.

And everywhere the Nepali faces are aglow with smiles . Everywhere people are rebuilding with remains of old house and stones and brick. Back breaking labour and beautiful dispositions as children shouted “Namaste!!” We came upon an impromptu market in the middle of the road as people were bargaining for sheets of corrugated metal roofing recently delivered. Eventually our driver conceded defeat and would go no further. We began an hour long walk uphill with our tents in our packs as dusk approached.

“Eventually our driver conceded defeat and would go no further. We began an hour long walk uphill with our tents in our packs as dusk approached. People with their metallic burdens destined for new rooftops laughed and joked as they made their way alongside us on the road.”

People with their metallic burdens destined for new rooftops laughed and joked as they made their way alongside us on the road. Rain threatened and thunder rolled. We arrived in the dark and made camp hastily, welcomed by the second CMAT team. After a wonderful meal of dal baht we have settled in to our little camp community. We are looking forward to the coming days. There is no sound like the thunder in the Gorkha hills.”