Cyclone Sidr has obliterated coastal regions of Bangladesh. The death toll has passed 2,500 and may rise to over 10,000. Reuters reports upwards of a million people have been displaced. There is a critical need for clean drinking water, food, and shelter. Global Medic has a Rapid Response Team working in the Saud Khali region in Southern Bangladesh. The team is using its inflatable field hospital to treat Cyclone victims. Over 1000 patients a day are being treated. Two large scale water purification units have restored access to clean drinking water to over 50,000 civilians in the area. Team members are using boats to ferry aid and set up field clinics in remote areas. They are now in the process of installing portable water purification systems to areas cut off from access. The team has also set up distribution systems of food, water, blankets, clothing, and utensils in four affected villages.
The scope of the emergency situation here is vast and the international response does not appear to meet the need. As a result, Global Medic has deployed a second inflatable field hospital unit to the region. The same blueprint for aid delivery will be established in Pirajpur.
Global Medic's overall response includes the deployment of two inflatable field hospitals, over 2.8 million water purification tablets, over 1 million tablets of essential medicines, and 21 water purification systems. The team will be able to provide 100,000 civilians with access to primary health care and clean drinking water.
Members of the media can contact the team in Bangladesh at the telephone numbers pasted below.
About Global Medic
Global Medic is the operational arm of the David McAntony Gibson Foundation (DMGF), a registered Canadian charity that runs capacity building programs in post conflict nations and provides disaster relief services to large scale catastrophes around the world. Global Medic operates a Rapid Response Team (RRT) that is staffed by professional rescuers including police officers, firefighters, and paramedics who volunteer their time to respond overseas. The RRT operates a Rescue Unit designed to save disaster victims; a Water Purification Unit designed to provide clean drinking water to disaster victims; and an Emergency Medical Unit that uses inflatable field hospitals to restore medical infrastructure.
Over the past 4 years, Global Medic Teams have deployed to over 20 international disasters. Responses have included Hurricanes in Grenada and Guatemala; Earthquakes in Pakistan and Indonesia; Tsunamis in Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands; Typhoons in the Philippines; and Floods in Pakistan and Indonesia. Previously, a Rapid Response Team responded to wide spread flooding in Bangladesh in August of 2007. That team was able to provide 50,000 civilians with clean drinking water daily and treated an average of 2,000 patients daily.
Contact : Rahul Singh rsingh@dmgf.org Bangladesh #: 0118801713247671
Matt Capobianco mcapobianco@dmgf.org Bangladesh #: 0118801713247668
Wes Normington wnormington@dmgf.org Toronto #: 647-407-6871
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
