Inflatable hospitals bring much needed care to Yolanda survivors

MANILA, Philippines – A month after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) ravaged the Visayas, international relief organizations are still in areas most affected by the Typhoon, providing medical and other forms of assistance.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders, a French-based medical non-governmental organization, set up inflatable hospitals in several provinces hit by Yolanda to respond to critical issues of mental and medical health problems and infections.

The inflatable hospitals were developed specifically for natural disaster response. The hospital has 5 inflatable tents housing an emergency room, a wound care room, a pharmacy and up to 45 hospital beds.

The super typhoon damaged hospitals and left a scarcity of medical supplies. According to MSF, in Tacloban City alone, only one of the 15 hospitals was operational.

Yann Libessart, an MSF member, said setting the hospitals was challenging because of the damage caused by the super typhoon. “Getting the site ready and installing the hospital was a major logistical challenge. First we had to clear the courtyard and outdoor areas of the hospital,” she added.

Yolanda left at least 4 million people displaced and around 5,600 deaths, official figures state.

Medical support

MSF teams set up 4 temporary hospitals in Tacloban, Burauen and Tanauan in Leyte island and in Guiuan on Samar island. One of the hospitals was set-up beside Tacloban’s Bethany Hospital.

MSF teams have also provided support in health centers in Balasan (Panay island) and run mobile clinics in municipalities of Estancia (Panay island), Palo, Santa Fe, Buruaen, Ormoc (Leyte island) and in isolated inland and coastal communities in Guiuan (Samar island).

As of Sunday, December 8, MSF teams have admitted more than 300 patients, provided more than 30,900 outpatient consultations and performed more than 2,100 surgical procedures.

The aid agency had also distributed 28,600 relief kits and 9,100 tents, shelters and reconstruction kits.

MSF emergency coordinator Laurent Sury said the goal of the agency is to support the health system in the region until it returns to “normality.”

“We expect mainly to be treating patients with common diseases or conditions related to poor access to health care, such as women with complicated deliveries and people with chronic illnesses,” she said.

MSF’s inflatable hospitals have also been used following the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. – Rappler.com