NEPAL REGION EARTHQUAKE | APRIL 2015 NEPAL REGION EARTHQUAKE REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Nepal Region Earthquake Case Statement On April 25, 2015, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck near Kathmandu, Nepal, resulting in widespread damage and humanitarian need. The impact was felt nationwide and as far as India, Pakistan, Tibet and Bangladesh. Thousands of lives have been lost, and even more have been injured. The humanitarian situation in rural towns and villages close to the epicenter is of major concern. Electricity and telephone connectivity is intermittent and mobile services are experiencing heavy congestion. Accessibility to remote, affected areas and information on the rural areas surrounding Kathmandu are a major challenge, hampering search and rescue and relief efforts. It is feared that the death toll and levels of destruction will be high. Strong after shocks are continuing and many people are sleeping in the open, fearful of returning to their homes. Hospitals in Kathmandu are functioning but are already overcrowded and with the ongoing aftershocks, people are being treated in the streets. volunteers, families are able to identify health risks and diseases before they become life threatening. NEPAL REGION EARTHQUAKE | APRIL 2015 THE RED CROSS AT WORK Red Cross response Volunteers and staff of the Nepal Red Cross were immediately mobilized and are assisting in search and rescue efforts, distributing non-food relief items and administering first aid to the injured. The Nepal Red Cross has extensive experience in responding to natural disasters and plays a lead role in the government’s contingency plans for such disasters. • 1,500 volunteers and 300 staff mobilized to support government search and rescue efforts • 1,200 tarps distributed to displaced families • Approximately 19,000 non-food relief kits available to the Nepal Red Cross which include clothing, kitchen sets, tarps, mosquito nets, and personal hygiene items The Canadian Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada, is deploying a mobile field hospital to provide critical life-saving health services to hard-hit communities. The Canadian Red Cross field hospital will support the Nepal Red Cross and local health authorities in meeting the needs in affected communities. • • Can cover the health needs of a population of up to 50,000 people Can treat up to 200 people per day as out-patients • Can provide immunization for 1,000 children if needed • Will focus on mother, newborn and child health • Will include an operating room to assist with complicated deliveries NEPAL REGION EARTHQUAKE | APRIL 2015 Your help is urgently needed To help support the Red Cross response to this disaster, you can make a financial donation to the NEPAL REGION EARTHQUAKE FUND • ONLINE AT WWW.REDCROSS.CA • BY CALLING 1-800-418-1111 • OR BY CONTACTING THEIR LOCAL CANADIAN RED CROSS OFFICE The Red Cross is the largest disaster relief organization in the world. When a disaster is too severe for the local support systems to respond, the global Red Cross response is initiated quickly. The Canadian Red Cross will be working as part of the global Red Cross response to this emergency. Your donation makes a difference: • $10 provides sleeping mats for a family of 5 • $55 provides food for a family of 5 for one month • $140 provides a kit of cooking, cleaning and shelter materials for a family of 5 • $484 provides a family tent • $807 provides a bed in CRC’s mobile field hospital • $12,000 sends an aid worker to help run CRC’s mobile field hospital for one month The Government of Canada will be matching donations made by individual Canadians until May 25th, 2015 making your donation even more effective. Funds will be allocated to established Canadian and international humanitarian organizations to support relief efforts that will benefit the people who are most affected by the earthquake. Please give generously!