Direct Relief Partner Deploys Telemedicine Van and Staff to Help Flood Survivors

Equipped with flood module, AIMS is providing medical care in camps for the displaced

October 6, 2009 

Equipped with medical material aid Direct Relief International has provided, staff from Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) has deployed to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh States in southern India today to assist people displaced by vast flooding there. With more than 2.5 million people left homeless and living in shelters, AIMS is also transporting an ambulance and its state-of-the-art telemedicine van, which Direct Relief funded, to the area to provide mobile care.

Based in Cochin, AIMS has sent a team of medical professionals to the flood regions, including a surgeon, an emergency medical physician, three general physicians, a gynecologist, two emergency technicians, two nurses, a lab technician and an X-ray technician. Stocked with emergency medical material aid Direct Relief provided, the team has mobilized to assist flood survivors.

The flood module Direct Relief sent to AIMS includes medicines to treat 10,000 people for 80 percent of the illnesses that arise in a flood. Respiratory infections, skin infections, and waterborne diseases are primary health concerns during flood conditions, especially when people are displaced and living in camps.

Direct Relief has supported AIMS’s work since 2004, including funding the technically sophisticated telemedicine van that enables AIMS to provide high-level care to remote populations. During emergencies, AIMS transports the telemedicine van to camps for internally displaced people, where it provides everything from primary care to complex diagnosis via a satellite transmission of data and video conferencing to its main hospital.

Direct Relief is in close contact with AIMS and is supporting its flood response as additional needs are identified.

Direct Relief Extends Emergency Aid to India

Flooding in southern states leaves 2.5 million homeless

October 5, 2009 

Direct Relief International today extended an offer of assistance to two partners in India, where devastating flooding has left 2.5 million people homeless in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States in the south. News reports indicate that government emergency relief efforts are underway to assist stranded villagers, and health officials are working to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.

On news of flooding, Direct Relief’s Asia program officer contacted Amrita Institute of Medical Science (AIMS) and Sri Sathya Sai, two partners especially well equipped to help flood survivors, and will direct emergency aid according to needs they specify.

Direct Relief has supported AIMS’s work since 2004, including funding a technically sophisticated telemedicine van that enables AIMS to provide high-level care to remote populations. During emergencies, AIMS transports the telemedicine van to camps for internally displaced people, where it provides everything from primary care to complex diagnosis via a satellite transmission of data and video conferencing to its main hospital.

The Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust, headquartered in Andhra Pradesh, operates general hospitals and state-of-the-art, super-specialty hospitals in the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the two flooded states, as well as a mobile hospital in Andhra Pradesh. Sri Sathya Sai provides care at no cost to patients, and has treated more than 4 million people in its general hospitals alone since its founding.