- Airbus being loaded with ERU hospital equipment in Finland. Photo: Jarkko Mikkonen/Finnish Red Cross
- Airbus being loaded with ERU hospital equipment in Finland. Photo: Jarkko Mikkonen/Finnish Red Cross
- ERU team checking the area where the hospital will be built in al-Azraq, Jordan. Photo: Mikko Vähäniitty/Finnish Red Cross
- ERU team checking the area where the hospital will be built in al-Azraq, Jordan. Photo: Mikko Vähäniitty/Finnish Red Cross
In response to the ongoing crisis in Syria, the Red Cross is in the midst of setting up a field hospital in Jordan to provide health care for Syrian refugees who have fled their home as a result of the conflict. To date, 1.9 million people have been forced to flee the country with Jordan hosting more than 518,000 registered refugees so far.
The field hospital will serve the new refugee camp in Azraq, located in northern Jordan, that is under construction. Both the Azraq refugee camp and the field hospital are expected to be operational in the coming weeks.
The hospital will provide critical medical and surgical care, x-ray and laboratory services, as well as maternal and child health care. One million Syrian children have been affected by this crisis and are paying a heavy price. Over half of registered refugees are children.
Some 40 tons of medical equipment, medicines and other supplies have arrived in Jordan from Finland as activity ramps up for the construction of the emergency response unit (ERU) field hospital.
This hospital will be run by the Canadian, Finnish, Norwegian and German Red Cross societies.
Typically, an ERU field hospital is deployed in response to emergencies such as earthquakes or hurricanes to meet short-term needs. In this case, the hospital could be operational for at least a year, if needed.
Canadians wishing to support these humanitarian efforts can donate to the Syrian Crisis Appeal.
