Doctors Report from the EQ areas

A number of volunteers have slowly returned home and are narrating stories which are really touching. The suffering is endless, these poor people were already strapped for cash before the tragedy are now simply devastated. Having lost a few members of their family, including all their possessions including their shelter which took many years to build, everything has been wiped out. They have no where to go, no work to do and are hungry to return to normal life. Simply said they are devastated and there is a chance that this depression if it lasts long has the potential to turn into anger and frustration against the country. The helping hand should be immediate and generous

A number of doctor teams that I knew were stationed at Muzzafarabad inside Neelam Ground. They did a commendable job in their few weeks of work, almost doing a 24-hour OT with upwards of 500 surgeries a day, surely a super human effort. The surgeries initially ranged from the first aid type fractures and other deep wounds, and later was gangrenous tissue amputations and other sepsis wounds. An interesting point they observed that probably due to the high nature of immunity of these people it was remarkable to see only one death due to sepsis, which should have been higher in other locations, surely higher immunity will help them out. The surgeries were ghastly and many surgeons claim that the smell of gangrenous tissue still haunts them today despite a serious scrubbing with hydrogen peroxide. I feel these heroic volunteers did what they can with the limited resources but proudly served their nation in this crisis

An important observation was also noted by these doctors that they saw many secondary injuries like paralysis and other injuries that were not directly related to the Earthquake but due to mishandling by the illiterate rescuers, who lugged and carried these people improperly to the hospital. This is not to point a blaming finger at the people but more so as a lesson to the govt to educate the people on simple basic life support. God Forbid if we ever have to go through this again, we should be a little more prepared.

CONTRIBUTE GENEROUSLY TO HELP PAKISTAN

WHO believes earthquake disaster worse than December's tsunami

The following report appeared on the Reuters website on 14th of October.

PAKISTAN: WHO believes earthquake disaster worse than December's tsunami

14 Oct 2005 17:26:28 GMT

Source: IRIN

ISLAMABAD, 14 October (IRIN) - Leading international agencies believe the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck Pakistan last Saturday is still being underestimated. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the calamity was bigger in scale than the tsunami that struck East Asia last year and the long-term problems created as a consequence will prove more difficult to deal with.

"The number made homeless, the destruction of roads and infrastructure and the terrain over which the catastrophe has struck make this a bigger disaster than the tsunami," Hussain A Gezairy, WHO's regional director, told journalists on Thursday at the emergency health centre set up at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

The earthquake has destroyed more than 80 percent of structures and buildings in parts of northern Pakistan. Many cities and villages in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the most affected areas, have been wiped out. More than four million people are affected, of whom one million are in acute need of help. More than 2 million people need to be re-housed, relief agencies say.

Gezairy said that as no roads were destroyed by the tsunami, destruction took place mainly within a few hundred metres along coastlines and it was far easier to assess the damage and plan relief.

"The fact only helicopters can reach so many mountain areas and that the affected areas are so remote, makes it extremely difficult to even gauge the full-scale of the damage and determine what needs to be done first," Gezairy explained.

According to the WHO, the number of health workers needed to be doubled or even tripled in some places. "There is a particularly urgent need for general practitioners with experience in emergencies and basic surgical skills. Paramedics, primary health care specialists and public health specialists, including epidemiologists, are also desperately needed," WHO said in a statement on Wednesday.

Although US $10 billion had been mobilised by the UN and world community, the WHO regional chief expressed concern that the amounts raised for tsunami victims "would not come in". Gezairy, however, stressed efforts were being made to promote more concern across the world and generate more funds.

Working with the Pakistan ministry of health in the largest operation ever launched in the country, the WHO has put hundreds of experts in the field.

The teams are set to work on building early-warning systems for disease surveillance and epidemic control. For this purpose, acting on WHO advice, the Pakistan military has already set up vaccination centres for relief workers along the roads to affected areas.

The poor sanitation conditions, hundreds of dead bodies still lying unburied and severe shortages of clean drinking water have made dangers presented by disease among the top concerns of relief agencies.

The WHO has already stated the situation seemed most alarming in major centres of destruction, particularly Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Balakot. The WHO is planning to deploy hundreds more medical staff in all affected areas to work alongside Pakistani medical teams.

This report can be found here.

Tags: Pakistan, Earthquake, Pakistan earthquake

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Relief Work at PAF Museum

I went to PAF Museum where a massive relief drive is on. There is loads of stuff there which needs sorting out. The danger is that if perishable items aren't packed and dispatched quickly, they may not be usable.

Many people are there, working selflessly. But a lot of stuff is still coming in, which needs to be properly packed. For all those who can spare even 15 minutes, I would really urge you to go out there and volunteer.

TOS Conflict with Google AdSense

The campaign for disater relief started innocently enough, my effort was to raise a significant amount of funds for the Needy and deserving in this national tragedy.

Our goal of the campaign was to raise revenue quite innocently by asking people to click on the Google AdBox. Mashallah with all your help and cooperation until the filing of this report we had generated upwards of $70 only from Google. But sadly I have to announece that as per their "Fine Print" it is deemed illegal for me to ask you to click the ads. For this noble cause I now ask you to continue your efforts and donate via Paypal.

Coming up with a grand idea soon, wait up!!!!

Please Donate via PAYPAL

Contirbute to Charity for Relief Efforts

This blog was created barely a day into the tragedy that engulfed Pakistan on the morning of 8th of October 2005.

Many organisations across the country have organized themselves to take part in the relief efforts, some providing physcial aid and a few helping the needy but in my opinion the most unexplored potential that has yet to be tapped which is the power of the internet to be able to tap thousands if not millions across the world

Due to distance limitations concernce individuals worldwide wanting to help in anyway possible can join hands with us to bring relief for the victims of this tragedy

We ask you to contribute generously to the relief efforts by helping raise money by either paypal The contributions will in turn help us raise fund, naturally the more the better.

Who am I: I am Dr. Awab Alvi a dentist practicing in Karachi at Alvi Dental Hospital. In this nobel effort I take full responisbility to ensure that all funds are carefully distributed to the deserving relief organizations. I will present myself as being solely responibile for the judicical distribution of funds