Bay Area medical groups plan trips to Nepal for 2nd-wave aid
A group of Nepalese surgeons, backed by a South Bay Area nonprofit that’s been providing reconstructive surgery services in the small mountainous country for decades, found themselves inundated with casualties at the hospital just outside Kathmandu where they work.
The surgeons, trained by Sunnyvale’s ReSurge International, specialize in burns and repairing cleft palates, but they have the general medical and surgical skills to respond to patients who have suffered wounds, crushed bones and other traumatic injuries from the disaster.
“In the wake of the disaster, it happened we have very great people essentially on the front lines,” said Dr. James Chang, consulting medical officer for ReSurge International and chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford University.
ReSurge is among many Bay Area medical organizations already helping or planning to provide specialized care to victims of the quake long after the headlines have faded. The 7.8-magnitude quake April 25 has claimed more than 6,000 lives and injured more than
10,000.
“In this acute phase, the focus is rightfully on saving lives,” said Chang, who plans to travel to Nepal in June. “We’re anticipating in the weeks, months and years to come a tremendous need for reconstructive surgery from this earthquake.”
In that light, UCSF orthopedic surgeons plan to travel to Nepal this summer to help treat some of the more complex crushing injuries and limb fractures that are so common in earthquakes.
But in the quake’s immediate aftermath, groups of Bay Area medical teams have headed to Nepal or are preparing to do so.
Medical teams ready
MedShare International, which collects and ships donated medical supplies to counties in need, is preparing Bay Area medical teams to fly to Nepal.
“We’ve got a lot stuff and we’ve got a lot of recipients, but getting it in there in quantity is the logistical challenge right now,” said Andrew Pines, executive director for MedShare’s Western headquarters in San Leandro.
The region’s damaged airport and roads are hampering airline shipments that include large quantities of medical cargo. MedShare expects to get up to 1,000 pounds of medical supplies into the country by the end of next week, aided by some 15 teams of Bay Area medical responders, Pine said. But the group has as much as 100,000 pounds of supplies ready to ship.
Pines said necessary supplies for earthquakes include bandages, gauze, sutures, casting supplies, wheelchairs, crutches, blood-pressure cuffs and monitors, IV tubes, gloves, masks and body bags. But he noted the need for financial support at this point is greater than volunteers or even supplies because of the extra costs associated with sending supplies to a devastated region.
While many health professionals want to help, health experts expressed caution. Wellmeaning volunteers absorb resources like hospital facilities and supplies — or even food, water and housing — that are needed for treating patients fighting for survival.
“We know better than to rush over in a chaos situation. Everyone’s first response is to run over there and bring your camera. That’s not us,” said Dr. Richard Coughlin, a foot and ankle specialist and director of UCSF’s Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology.
He said that 13 orthopedic surgeons in Nepal — out of roughly 100 orthopedists in the entire country — already have been trained in advanced limb-saving techniques as part of a multiday trauma course offered by the Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Trau- matology. The UCSF surgeons said they trust their colleagues in Nepal to take care of the hundreds of cases they’re surely facing now.
“Working with them before disaster hits, that’s incredibly important. Now they have the confidence, they have the coordination,” said Dr. Theodore Miclau, who is head of orthopedic surgery at UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital. “Ultimately, our expertise will still be needed. We’ll go down as the second wave to figure out what they need in the recovery period — but only after they’re not dealing with the first wave of injured.”
In Nepal during quake
Stanford graduate student Jana Lim, who is getting her doctorate in neurosciences, was scheduled to fly home the evening the quake struck and saw the immediate need for help firsthand.
Lim, 28, had spent two weeks working at the Kirtipur Hospital Cleft and Burn Center working on a clinical trial in partnership with ReSurge for a specialized hand splint she developed with fellow Stanford students. She was at a shop in Kathmandu buying treats to bring back to friends when the ground started shaking.
While she’s experienced earthquakes in the Bay Area, Lim said but nothing prepared her for what happened in Nepal. After spending the night under a patio cafe and waiting 30 hours at the Nepal airport, she arrived home Monday.
Lim said she was torn by her desire to stay and help, but knew she didn’t have the medical expertise or language skills needed to provide the care the Nepalese needed.
“I’m still very much in Nepal, mentally and emotionally,” she said. “It’s my greatest wish to return to Nepal. The country really stole my heart. It was already an unforgettable trip before the earthquake happened.”