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CMAT and Humanity First Canada partner to respond to Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras.

2020-11-16 – TORONTO, ONTARIO – Canadian Medical Assistance Team announces a collaboration with Humanity First Canada in response to Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America. The Emergency Medical Team of 10 volunteer health professionals from both CMAT and Humanity First were deployed to help the people of Honduras in response to the two hurricanes which stuck northern Honduras less than two weeks apart. Earlier today, Hurricane Iota reached a catastrophic Category 5, and is taking a similar path to the powerful Hurricane Eta, which killed more than 200 people across Central America last week.

Responding to the request of PAHO (The Pan American Health Organization) and the Honduran Ministry of Health, a joint EMT 1 team consisting of physicians, nurse practitioners, midwife and logisticians will arrive in San Pedro Sula to provide primary health care and emergency care. The team will consist of two mobile medical units which will visit outlying communities affected by the hurricanes.

The CMAT and Humanity First Emergency Medical Team departed from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport for Honduras this afternoon, with medical equipment and supplies, water purification systems and other emergency supplies.

Media Contact:

Valerie Rzepka, Executive Director – Canadian Medical Assistance Teams 1-855-637-9111 or [email protected]

About Canadian Medical Assistance Teams:

Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) is a non-profit disaster relief organization comprised of health professionals and non-medical volunteers who selflessly give their time to assist and provide relief aid to the victims of natural and man-made disasters around the world. Established in December 2004, CMAT has earned a reputation as an important partner agency of the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization.

CMAT teams have responded to numerous crisis situations around the world including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, typhoons and flooding in Bangladesh and the Philippines, and earthquakes in Pakistan, China, Haiti, and Nepal. CMAT has accumulated a database of over 1000 skilled volunteer health professionals from across Canada.

For more information please visit www.canadianmedicalteams.org Canadian Charitable Registration # 88439 3315 RR0001

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CMAT-HF-Press-Release-1-Nov-16-2020Download

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

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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 #1: Hurricane Irma 2017

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September 8, 2017:  CMAT continues to monitor the progress of Hurricane Irma and is standing by for further guidance from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) for potential deployment.  A formal appeal for international assistance has not yet been made by any of the countries affected.

Irma’s wide band swept over Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Barthélemy, Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico, Montserrat and St Kitts & Nevis, with Barbuda and Anguilla most heavily affected. The catastrophic category 5 storm is currently centred in the unusually warm waters between the Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Island, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

As this storm progresses, it is expected to slam directly into the US state of Florida.  As of the 8 pm EDT Thursday the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Irma’s top sustained winds were 185 mph (297 km/h) with higher gusts, and evacuations are already in progress in the region. It is estimated that more that 31.7 million people will be affected by Irma’s trail through the Caribbean.

According to news articles, at least 14 people are so far reported to have died. Massive damage has been reported across the islands already savaged by the storm.  Hurricane Irma is being followed by Hurricane José, which is moving very slowly in the Atlantic Ocean and is anticipated to affect the northern Leeward Islands along a similar track to Irma.

Canadians wishing to support the CMAT response to Hurricane Irma can make a financial donation to the Hurricane Irma Appeal.

View the Global News Update from Thursday September 7th here:
http://globalnews.ca/video/rd/1041896003654/

Preliminary Call for Expressions of Interest:

At this time, CMAT Deployment coordinators are asking for Expressions of Interest from only active and current CMAT volunteer members who would available to deploy as early as Sunday September 10th for up to about 3 weeks.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A DEPLOYMENT ANNOUNCEMENT, ONLY A CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST. 

To submit your expression of interest to CMAT, the following steps are mandatory.  In order to comply with the World Health Organization’s  Minimum Standards for Emergency Medical Teams, in the event a deployment is confirmed, failing to provide hard copies of the following items to CMAT will result in forfeiture of your eligibility to deploy.

In order to be placed on the standby list for potential deployment, please prepare your package of printed hard copies of the following documents to be kept on hand, and also submit electronic copies to CMAT:

  1. Three (3) printed passport style photos, one copy scanned and emailed to CMAT;
  2. Proof of Professional Registration with your provincial regulatory body or association (College of Physicians, College of Nurses etc.), a copy scanned and emailed to CMAT;
  3. A printed and signed copy of your CMAT liability waiver, a copy scanned and emailed to CMAT;
  4. Please ensure that your applicable Professional Liability Protection or Insurance is up to date, carry a copy with you, a copy scanned and emailed to CMAT;
  5. Two (2) photocopies of the photo page of your Canadian Passport with a minimum of 6 months remaining validity, and a copy scanned and emailed to CMAT.
  6. Please send your expressions interest by COMPLETING this Excel Form found linked here.

All scanned and completed documents are to be attached to one single email, and sent to:[email protected]

IMPORTANT: Please indicate the specific dates within the ‘availability field’ dates which are fully confirmed, (i.e. tentative or pending shift trades etc. does not count. Your dates must be fully confirmed),  as well as indicating possible duration of availability noting specific dates.
ALL FIELDS ON THE EXCEL FORM ARE MANDATORY. We currently do not have the time nor resources to manage the overwhelming number of applications in any other format.  Incomplete forms will be rejected.

All  potential CMAT members must have a complete and updated profile registered on the CMAT website. Please log in and update your profile at:

**Please note: due to recent high traffic volume, our website and registration page does occasionally experience some glitches.  Please try again if you encounter an error.**

Kindly understand that we are all volunteers, and are getting inundated with hundreds of emails and phone calls, as well as working hard on response coordination (and our own full time jobs!!).  By sending back your completed excel sheet and required documents, we will place you on our standby list, but we will be contacting you only if deployment is confirmed, and you are moved to the potential deployment list.  

APPEAL FOR DONATIONS:

Every dollar counts when we are responding to disaster.  You can help by clicking above and donating generously through CanadaHelps.org!!

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/cmat-canadian-medical-assistance-teams/hurricane-irma/

CMAT Response Team in Haiti: Final Report Published

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CMAT wraps up the mission in Haiti with a visit to the Canadian embassy and a debrief/sitrep with the Canadian Ambassador Paula Caldwell.

January 8, 2017:   In October, 2016, a catastrophic hurricane struck the island nation of Haiti.  A three member team from CMAT was deployed to install a NOMAD water purifier, delivered medications and other aid supplies to the city of Les Irois in the Grand Anse region of Haiti. The team was deployed from November 2nd until November 16th, 2016 and comprised of Martin Metz (Paramedic – Team Lead), Kate Auger (Nurse Practitioner), Marc Dupuis (Firefighter).

Community members in Les Irois filling water containers with clean drinking water, from the Nomad purifier installed by CMAT.

In collaboration with the UN/UNICEF WASH cluster, the CMAT team assessed Les Irois as the area which would benefit the most from the deployment of the NOMAD water filter.

To read the deployment summary report, please click here:  CMAT Haiti 2016 Hurricane Matthew Deployment Summary.