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CMAT Assessment team completes survey of central Leyte

CMAT Assessment Team members Martin Metz and Marty Quintia assess the infrastructure damage in Ormoc, Leyte.
CMAT Assessment Team members Martin Metz and Marty Quintia assess the infrastructure damage in Ormoc, Leyte.

Ormoc, Leyte, Philippines – Sunday November 17, 2013: The Assessment team arrived into the devastated region of Leyte early Sunday morning, and completed a survey of the city of Ormoc, as well as several rural villages in the environs.

The devastation in the region was nearly total, as homes and businesses could not withstand the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which struck the region on November 8th.  Trees were toppled like toothpicks, and debris such as roofing material and branches clogged roads.  The electrical grid took the brunt of this storm, and early speculation is that power will not be restored to the island until at least the end of December.

The team visited the Ormoc District Hospital (ODH), the only public hospital in the city, and found that the majority of the structure did not survive the storm.  Even though the roof had been blown off, and windows smashed, patients continued to pour in, and were being treated in a makeshift manner in the hospital lobby.  The team encountered representatives from Mercy Malaysia and MSF, who had decided to set up their base of operations there, and will be converting the existing emergency room into an operating theatre and delivery room, while setting their field hospital tent up in the front yard of the ODH. At present, there is no projected timeframe for the rehabilitation of this facility.

The team continued on and visited Rural Health Units in Merida and Isabel, west of Ormoc, both of which were being staffed by redeployed Filipino staff from other provinces.  Both indicated that while they were seeing an influx of patients, the more seriously ill or injured patients had already travelled directly to Ormoc to seek treatment.

The wrath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) is evident on the buildings of Ormoc. Roof sheets torn off by the wind are wrapped around trees.

The wrath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) is evident on the buildings of Ormoc. Roof sheets torn off by the wind are wrapped around trees.

The team then returned to Ormoc, and toured the Ormoc Sugar Planters Association Farmer’s Hospital (OSPA).  This facility unfortunately lost 9 patients during the height of the storm, 4 when the ventilators lost power, and five when the roof collapsed. Similar to other facilities in the city, this hospital continues to see patients in a makeshift triage and emergency room housed in the lobby.

CMAT continues to liaiase with the World Health Organization and Filipino Department of Health – Health Cluster to evaluate the best and most appropriate locations with the highest needs, in anticipation of the arrival and deployment of the field hospital and first medical team in the coming days.

CMAT thanks its supporters for their generous donations.  We continue to encourage the generosity of our donors by contributing to our Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) Relief fund at  http://www.canadahelps.org/dn/16574 

We also continue to accept donated Air Canada Aeroplan miles,  please consider donating as part of the Beyond Miles Aeroplan Campaign. For more information, you can visit: http://beyondmiles.aeroplan.com/eng/charity/252.

 

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami – Six Months On….

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Our fantastic Japanese in-country volunteers!!! — L-R Rear: Yasushi Sato, Motoaki Ishii, Sosha Smith, Valerie Rzepka, L-R Front: Umi-San, Kana Kobori, and Seiko Watanabe.

Our fantastic Japanese in-country volunteers!!! — L-R Rear: Yasushi Sato, Motoaki Ishii, Sosha Smith, Valerie Rzepka, L-R Front: Umi-San, Kana Kobori, and Seiko Watanabe.

Sunday, September 11, 2011 – Six months ago, on March 11, 2011 a massive earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan. The earthquake and tsunami that followed caused the death of at least 24,000 people and set off a nuclear crisis which was as confusing as it was frightening. Four months later, CMAT Chair Valerie Rzepka, and CMAT Volunteer Seiko Watanabe returned to Japan to retrieve CMAT equipment which will no longer be needed, and to acknowledge and thank CMAT’s Japanese in-country volunteers. Here are their impressions:

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Through generous donors, CMAT is helping to provide purified drinking water in Japan.

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A curious little guy makes a close inspection of the new equipment.

A curious little guy makes a close inspection of the new equipment.

Friday, April 1, 2011 – Kitakamicho Aikawa, Japan: Together with local authorities in Japan, CMAT team members successfully installed a Nomad water purification unit in the small fishing village.

The purchase of this portable water purification system manufactured by Noah Water Systems was made possible through the generous support of our donors, especially the Lotus Light Charity Society from Vancouver. The unit is capable of producing 25 gallons / 95 litres per minute or 36,000 gallons / 136,800 liters per day. The Nomad will satisfy the need for large volumes of safe drinking water using any fresh water source: well, lake, river, stream, and pond and even polluted floodwaters.
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CMAT providing clean drinking water for a community destroyed in the tsunami

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CMAT paramedic Martin Metz and OT Seiko Watanabe install a Nomad water purification system in the town of Aikawa Kitakamicho.

CMAT paramedic Martin Metz and OT Seiko Watanabe install a Nomad water purification system in the town of Aikawa Kitakamicho.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 – Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan- The CMAT Medical Team continues to work in the communities surrounding Ishinomaki, and is slowing winding up its operations in Japan.  While visiting evacuation centres in several small villages along the coast, team members provided first aid and some primary medical care to the evacuees. Many of the patients that the team saw were elderly, and had chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, other members of the team were awaiting delivery of the Nomad water purification unit. The purchase of this portable water purification system manufactured by Noah Water Systems was made possible through the generous support of our donors, especially the Lotus Light Charity Society from Vancouver. The unit is capable of producing 25 gallons / 95 litres per minute or 36,000 gallons / 136,800 liters per day. The Nomad will satisfy the need for large volumes of safe drinking water using any fresh water source: well, lake, river, stream, and pond and even polluted floodwaters.