Earthquake Relief Nepal 2015

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people in Nepal and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Standard Time on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8.

When I first heard about it, I was devastated. I had been to Nepal in 2011 on a 30 day trek/medical mission making this my third time to Nepal. I had fallen in love with the Nepali people, and it hurt my heart that so many people were killed and injured. I got in touch with my friend Hem Rai and told him that I wanted to help by taking a medical team over. He was in the process of fundraising to send money there and that going there would be even better. We proceeded to fund raise together and raised $13,000 between us. I put together a medical team from people I knew from DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) and we left on May 11, 2015.

Although we did not have a mission, I knew that we would be able to make a difference. I asembled a team of two doctors, 5 RNs 4 paramedics And a few others. Hem had arranged for us to take ancillary staff once we got there. He knew some Sherpas and guides and even a nursing student which would be able to translate and help us navigate the rough terrain. Once we got there, we were approached by a young boy and his grandfather who pleaded with us to come to their village and help. With Jeeps and buses we made the 10 Hour drive to the first village. We brought medication that had been donated from the United States and purchased tarps cooking oil, rice etc to meet the villagers immediate needs. There were many aftershocks when we got there and landslides were an issue as we made our way to the village.

When we arrived, we were well received and began to set up a clinic. We triaged and treated well over 100 people. Once people knew we were in the area the masses showed up. A person from another village requested our assistance. Although the terrain and trip was more difficult to navigate, we managed to get ourselves there and triaged and treated well over 250 people. We treated acute injuries such as lacerations and broken bones as well as upper respiratory and urinary tract infections and a plethora of other types of infections. We had reconstituteable liquid pediatric antibiotics and cough syrups as well as many other types of medications. The level of acuity at the second village was much greater than that of the first village.

I stayed for 14 days and then had to return back the the United States and my job. Hem Rai and another team stayed for an additional 2 weeks before they returned back to USA.