Canadian Red Cross field hospital arrives in remote region of Nepal

A Canadian Red Cross field hospital has arrived in the remote village of Dhunche, a remote community outside of Kathmandu near the Tibet border. The road to the village was blocked following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated this region of Nepal. The local hospital is severely damaged and medical needs are urgent.

A medical team of 13 Red Cross aid workers arrived in Dhunche on May 2. Red Cross personnel, tents and medical supplies were all flown in by helicopter as the earthquake destruction had prevented road access. The team is supporting the local staff in providing care to the affected community.

One of the patients treated was a woman with an infection on her foot. She had to walk for days to reach Dhunche. Because of landslides and cracks in the road, the only way to reach it was by foot.

''For these kind of diseases an intensive treatment is needed,” says Hossam Elsharkawi, the Director of Emergencies and Recovery, International Operations at the Canadian Red Cross. “Without it she would most likely lose a limb or even die.”

Photo Slideshow: Medical care arrives in remote region of Nepal

"I don't know yet how long I'm going to be working [here] but I'm going to stay as long as I am needed," says Ola Dunin-Bell, a surgeon and aid worker with the Canadian Red Cross who is also specialized in high altitude and wilderness medicine. So far contact has been non-existent, but they try to reach them with helicopters.

In Chartara, the situation is similar. The army has evacuated many injured people in the area; some of them are strong enough to walk from the helicopter, but most are carried out. The hospital in Chartara is also so badly damaged that treatment is taking place in tents outside. Here, a medical team from the Norwegian Red Cross has erected a field hospital. Their journey was delayed by a landslide that blocked the road on Saturday, but they are now set up and treating patients as they arrive from the more remote regions of the country.

Canadians are encouraged to support people impacted by this disaster by making a donation to the Canadian Red Cross Nepal Region Earthquake Fund.​ The Canadian Government will match eligible donations from April 25 to May 25.

Photo: Merlijn Stoffels / Netherlands Red Cross