[Mb-civic] CBC News - TOP PRIORITY FOR DART: MEDICAL HELP FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Fri Oct 21 17:17:57 PDT 2005

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TOP PRIORITY FOR DART:  MEDICAL HELP FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
WebPosted Fri Oct 21 17:44:46 2005

--- NATO is sending up to 1,000 troops and additional helicopters to
Pakistan to bolster earthquake relief efforts.

        The contingent will include a 500-strong engineering battalion
        and a medical team.

        Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, has arrived
        in the earthquake zone. Members of the team spent the day setting
        up their base of operations in the small town of Guridupata,
        about 25 kilometres from Muzafarrabad.

The top priority is trying to get the field hospital set up so they can
begin treating the injured.

        "The whole health infrastructure here has been lost and we're
        trying to help build it back up again," said navy Lieut.
        Chris Kennedy.

Kennedy from Gagetown, N.B., says DART medics are expecting to see a lot
of infections.

        Every day, the walking wounded keep streaming into town from
        mountain villages. Their injuries have gone untreated for so long
        now, their infections so bad, that Kennedy says there may be
        little the Canadians can do, except help people die in the least
        amount of pain.

        "It really depends upon the spectrum of just how sick they are.
        So if individuals have sort of a localized infection sometimes
        we can clean the wound ... treat them with antibiotics and
        they'll improve.

        "Sometimes they can get so bad that they need amputation, in
        which case we'd probably have to refer them on to a surgical
        facility. And if it gets to the point where they're very ill and
        they're not going to turn the corner, we might have to resort to
        comfort measures for these individuals."

There will be other medical needs. Even people who've had their immediate
injuries looked after run the risk of colds, flu, respiratory problems,
even hypothermia from living in tents as the temperatures drop.

Capt. Cheryl Swarbrick says National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa
has already decided to send more female soldiers to join DART,
because Pakistani women are extremely reluctant to receive treatment
from male doctors.

        "We've been told by the NGOs [non-governmental organizations] on
        the ground that females are not being treated because [there
        aren't enough female medical staff]," said Swarbrick.

Canadian assistance is also beginning to appear in other ways. Carmen
Tremblay with the Canadian International Development Agency says millions
of dollars in aid from the federal government has been turned over to the
Red Crescent and other NGOs.

        "One of the first appeals we responded to was the Red Crescent
        because they have tents in supply and they can move them quite
        quickly. World vision is doing also shelter. They're doing small
        reconstruction kits, with tool boxes, wheelbarrows, cooking
        utensils, that sort of thing," said Tremblay.

Even with the amount of aid that continues to arrive, the appetite for
more seems insatiable.

In the town where DART is based, a handful of shops have now reopened.
But there are still stampedes each time a new relief truck arrives.