NEPAL EARTHQUAKE: HERE’S HOW YOU HELPED SAVE LIVES EVERY DAY FOR A MONTH Your fast and generous response to the disaster in the Nepal region is helping the Red Cross to take care of hundreds of thousands of survivors of two earthquakes on April 25th and May 12th. These people are in a desperate situation and have seen their lives fall apart‌everything they possessed has been ripped away. With the monsoon season approaching, the Red Cross is scaling up operations every day to keep people safe, sheltered and to give them all the help they need. Canadian aid workers arrived soon after the first earthquake hit Nepal. Surgeon Ola Dunin-Bell, nurses Diane Hyra-Kuzenko and Sarah Mutch joined the medical effort to save survivors.
The earthquakes affected 1 in 4 people across the Nepal region. The Nepal Red Cross was part of the search and rescue mission within hours of the first strike and the Canadian Red Cross field hospital was operational within hours of being on the ground in Dhunche.
YOU HELPED GIVE SHELTER AND BLANKETS Over 290,000 people are now sheltering under tents or tarps provided by the Red Cross – the aim is to reach at least 500,000 in the coming weeks.
17,170 blankets and 63,528 tarpaulins have been given to families throughout the earthquake zone by the Red Cross. 7,000 Red Cross volunteers are working in search and rescue, providing shelter, drinking water, food, first aid and psychosocial support.
YOU HELPED GIVE LIFE-SAVING SUPPLIES The Red Cross remains in full emergency mode and 36,760 people have already received water, 20,880 have received hygiene kits, soap and clean water tabs. 13,000 people have received other essential items such as jerry cans and household item kits.
YOU HELPED GIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT Patients are being treated in the Canadian Red Cross field hospital in Dhunche. The road to the town was blocked so equipment was flown in by helicopters from Kathmandu. In the villages, high in the Himalayas, many houses and the hospital were wiped out. Helicopters had to fly back and forth to the village to transport relief supplies, people who were wounded and also, sadly, mountaineers who had died.
YOU HELPED KEEP CHILDREN SAFE A Canadian Red Cross shelter for children is operating on a narrow plateau on the side of a mountain in Dhunche. The children come and go as they wish. Inside there are toys, and activities, and a trained Red Cross volunteer is there to guide activities and protect them throughout the day.
YOU HELPED CANADIANS REACT QUICKLY The Canadian Red Cross field hospital was treating patients within hours of being on the ground in Dhunche, one of the most remote areas of Nepal. 38 Canadians aid workers are now treating patients at the field hospital. This fast response, on a par with responding to emergencies in Canada, is only possible with the help of humanitarian supporters like you.
YOU HELPED BRING NEW LIFE INTO THE WORLD Say hello to one of the first babies born in the Canadian Red Cross field hospital.
Thanks to you, Leilyn is the first of many children that will be born in the Canadian Red Cross field hospital.
His mother named the baby Leilyn after Lynn Henderson, the Canadian Red Cross nurse who delivered him. Canadian Red Cross medical staff have treated over 1,290 patients with acute respiratory infections, infections, diarrhoea, broken bones, skin diseases and severe cuts. Across the region, over 20, 580 people have received health and care services.