Earthquake Relief in Nepal

International Medical Corps’ response to the April 25 earthquake in Nepal that has claimed the lives of more than 7,200 people and injured some 14,000 men, women and children continues.  Significant aftershocks are still being felt – including a 5.0 magnitude quake on May 2 – preventing people from returning to their homes and making response to remote areas extraordinarily difficult.  Shelter, food, and access to health care and clean water remain paramount concerns for the government and First Responders, and fears of the spread of communicable and water-borne disease are still high.

International Medical Corps response was featured on Sunday’s NBC Nightly News – it can be viewed at the following link: 

https://youtu.be/0_dl9HpV9xU

In addition, to date, International Medical Corps has:

• Mobilized an Emergency Response Team with more than 50 volunteers and staff, with more coming quickly on board, including local Nepalese doctors and nurses.
• Deployed mobile medical teams and provided 360 emergency health care consultations in remote communities at the epicenter of the quake in Gorkha, Dhading, Bhaktapur, and Khulla Manch – including, on Monday, May 4, a mobile medical unit via helicopter to the remote and completely devastated village of Laprak in the Gorkha District.  As a result of the visit, two survivors were carried out of their village to the helicopter and medevac’d out of the village for injuries sustained during the quake
• Began constructing latrines in camps in Kathmandu, providing services and helping stop the spread of disease to some 10,000 displaced men, women and children.  To best meet the needs of communities in Kathmandu and in rural villages like Laprak – which has no latrines for 5,000 people – International Medical Corps is hiring 21 additional WASH staff members to work with the Ministry to build latrines across the country.
• Opened supply lines and secured 6 WHO-approved “Interagency Emergency Health Kits” which can collectively provide medicine and medical supplies for 60,000 patients for three months, bolstering the capacity of the healthcare system to provide care; additional supplies are en route.
• Trained frontline health workers in psychological first aid, to help comprehensively meet the needs of patients affected by this quake and identified a local partner organization – International Medical Corps will provide psychological first aid training, and newly trained frontline health workers will deliver training in some 13 districts across Gorkha.
• Moving forward, International Medical Corps is preparing for large scale supply distribution programs, and nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene interventions that can help keep families healthy in the aftermath of a disaster, and will be partnering with the Ministry of Health to support recovery efforts.

It is with the generous support of GlobalGiving and other donors that we have been able to act quickly to meet the most pressing needs. Your continued support will further enable us to make a lasting impact at a time when it is so urgently needed.