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Bulletin No. 10 - South Asia earthquake
18-10-2005 Operational Update
Medical assistance structure takes shape
With the successful installation of the ICRC's basic health unit by the Japanese Red Cross in the Jhelum valley, a medical structure is now emerging to help the many injured people in the Muzaffarabad region. A second unit will be set up tomorrow in the Neehlam valley, staffed by the Finnish Red Cross. Current plans are to install a third unit from the German Red Cross in Muzaffarabad itself to deal with out patients and to handle referral to the ICRC's 100-bed field hospital in the town.
The hospital, supplied by the Finnish and Norwegian Red Cross societies, is not yet open. Bad weather and logistics bottlenecks at airports have delayed the construction. The plan is now to admit the first patients on Saturday. The water supply for the hospital was installed today and 30 per cent of the structure is now in place
A fourth basic health unit will also be set up once an assessment of needs has identified a suitable site. In all 40 ICRC medical staff will be deployed in Muzaffarabad, and 58 in the satellite units. The structure is highly flexible. The support units can be switched to places in need.
The unit in Chikar received 880 blankets today in an ICRC helicopter rotation from Islamabad that also evacuated 22 injured people. Now that the health unit is in place, it can identify the most urgent cases and send them directly to Islamabad without passing through Muzaffarabad. By the end of the week, a similar process will select patients for treatm ent at the field hospital, which will have a wide range of services including surgery.
Survival materials reach families in need
An ICRC team distributed emergency relief material to 325 families, about 1,600 people, in five villages west of Muzaffarabad today. The parcels contained tarpaulins, blankets, warm clothes, soap and food. Another team carried out an assessment in the Jhelum valley and identified villages for a relief distribution tomorrow.
An additional helicopter crossed the Hindu Kush today to reinforce the ICRC operation; two others arrived from Europe by transport aircraft. Further support will be needed if the ICRC is to reach its target of providing 5,000 families a week with food and non-food assistance to survive the winter.
Water supplies
After ICRC intervention at the main water pumping station in Muzaffarabad, almost 60 per cent of the town is now getting running water for five hours a day. There are still many leaks in the system that need repair.
Coordination
With the build up of the relief operation across Pakistan, the need for coordination grows. The ICRC's main delegation in Islamabad will be handling this. Coordination within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is already working well with a geographical split between the ICRC and the International Federation. The ICRC concentrates on Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the epicentre of the earthquake, and the Federation w orks in other affected areas of Pakistan. Both work closely with the Pakistan Red Crescent. The large and complex logistics operation is managed jointly to avoid duplication.
The ICRC also has good operational cooperation on the ground with the Pakistani authorities, both civilian and military, and UN agencies in Islamabad.
Restoring family links
Today the ICRC visited injured people in hospitals in Lahore and Karachi to identify those who have lost contact with their families.
For more information please contact:
Leyla Berlemont
sat. phone ++ 88 216 89 80 41 45
attn: L. Berlemont
(ICRC Islamabad central tel. no: ++92 51 282 47 80 - 282 47 52)
Languages: English/French/Arabic
Muzaffarabad/Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Olivier MOECKLI or Raza HAMDANI
sat. phone ++ 88 216 511 012 97
New Delhi/India
Caspar Landolt
mobile ++ 91 98 11 80 66 33
(ICRC New Delhi central tel. no: ++91 11 24 35 23 38/97 - 24 35 43 94/95/96)
Languages: English/French/German/Portuguese
Geneva/Switzerland
Ian Piper
mobile ++41 79 217 32 16
Languages: English/French
ICRC Geneva press secretariat
tel. ++41 22 730 34 43
Please note that Pakistan time is GMT +5 hrs, India tim e is GMT +5.5, Geneva is at GMT +2hrs.
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