Posts

CMAT Japan Deployment: Team update

,
CMAT Team Leader David Johnson, and IMAT Executive Director Chris Tompkins walk through the devastated town of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

CMAT Team Leader David Johnson, and IMAT Executive Director Chris Tompkins walk through the devastated town of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011: The team which left Vancouver yesterday has arrived in Tokyo. They were met by our kind drivers, and taken into the city for the night, to prepare for their six-hour drive north to Miyagi prefecture in the morning.

Dr. Jarvis’ Geiger counter (ionizing radiation detector) has found that the level of radiation in the air in Tokyo is even less than that in Halifax!

The highways to Tokyo are bottlenecked with travellers, and at times, only military vehicles and those with special permits may travel. Securing these special permits has proven challenging, but not impossible.

Read more

CMAT prepares for deployment of its Field Hospital Tuesday to disaster ravaged Japan.

,
CMAT Director, Bill Coltart receives up to date information on the developing situation in Japan.

CMAT Director, Bill Coltart receives up to date information on the developing situation in Japan.

Sunday, March 20, 2011 – The CMAT Rapid Assessment Team has been working tirelessly since its return from Tokyo a few days ago, and has been monitoring the situation in Japan where a large 9.0 earthquake and tsunami last week devastated coastal cities and infrastructure. We have also been following the ensuing crisis with destroyed power plants, and have been keeping updated through international partners, colleagues, and other governmental sources.

Read more

CMAT continues to stage response to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami from Vancouver.

,
Members of CMAT and IMAT Rapid Assessment team speak with Japanese officials in Tokyo.

Members of CMAT and IMAT Rapid Assessment team speak with Japanese officials in Tokyo.

Thursday, March 17, 2011 – Following the return of the rapid assesment team Wednesday from Japan, CMAT continues to stage our response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan from Vancouver. We anticipate an imminent re-deployment, with medical volunteers who are trained in CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) events.

Read more

Continued Preparations

,
Image of the Daiichi Power Plant

Image of the Daiichi Power Plant

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 – In follow up to last night’s decision to evacuate the team from Japan – CMAT is currently in the process of transitioning equipment and supplies from its warehouse in Toronto, to Vancouver in anticipation of re-deployment at the earliest possible opportunity. We continue to monitor nuclear safety concerns through the Global Disaster Alert Coordination System (GDACS), to facilitate decision-making for our teams.

Our Assessment Team members are to remain working at the staging area in Vancouver instead of Tokyo for re-deployment as quickly as possible. We are also placing medical and rescue personnel with CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) training on standby.

In the meantime we are urgently appealing for donations to purchase Nomad Water Purification units which are available for immediate shipping to the affected areas.
Donate here with a click!

Nomad Water Purification System