On Saturday, April 25, Nepal-based surgical teams from ReSurge International were providing reconstructive surgical care when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit and as aftershocks continued. Soon, they were inundated with casualties at their Kirtipur Hospital, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
"On the first day, we took care of more than 100 injured in the hospital and 10 were brought in dead. More are coming," said Dr. Shankar Rai, ReSurge's Surgical Outreach Director in Nepal. More than 5000 people have died, More than 10,000 are injured; many have sustained injuries that will require reconstructive surgery to prevent or reduce permanent disabilities. Search and rescue efforts are underway.
Consequently, they are seeing many more patients and the need for additional medical support and supplies is great.
ReSurge has also partnered with expert disaster response organizations AmeriCares and International Medical Corps to provide needed medical supplies. More than 11,000 lbs of Nepal-requested supplies from AmeriCares are expected to reach Rai's team and our partner PHECT-Nepal's Kathmandu Model Hospital early next week.
ReSurge's partner, International Medical Corps, is the US government's medical relief lead and is coordinating the reconstructive surgical response with ReSurge. ReSurge has worked in Nepal since the 1980s and has the largest year-round reconstructive surgical team in the country. ReSurge has partnered with International Medical Corps since 2012.
Outside of Nepal-requested specialized supplies, the best way to help is to send monetary donations, according to the US government. These enable Dr. Rai and other local humanitarians to respond to the situation's changing needs as they move towards recovery and also help the economy to rebuild by buying locally.
As such, ReSurge has established the Nepal Earthquake Victims Surgical Care Fund to specifically support the Nepal ReSurge Surgical Outreach Program. These donations are being sent to our Nepalese team to fund the immediate surgical need, as well as the tremendous need for reconstructive surgical care and rehabilitation in the weeks and months to come.
ReSurge International is on the vetted InterAction and USAID lists of key NGOs responding to the crisis.
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