On Saturday evening, all of the medical relief camps under the direction and supervision of the prefecture health bureau — including our camp, which had operated for nearly 10 days — were requested to bring their operations to an end, as the provision of medical care for residents of Yushu was to be transitioned over to the government’s field hospitals, under the coordination of a representative from the national health bureau.
This therefore brings to a close the initial, short-term, ‘Phase One’ of Plateau Perspectives’ response to the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu on April 14, 2010. However much more will need to be done in the weeks and months ahead; and so from our perspectives, we now are simply moving into a next phase of work — including such matters as water purification, distribution of relief supplies, and other support for local partners (including both government bureaus and specific communities) that have been significantly affected by the earthquake.
Already, two water purification systems have been installed in one of the largest displaced person camps on the outskirts of Yushu, each with a proven capacity to provide potable water for over 2,500 people; and a request has been made for 30 water purification units in total, to be set up at 19 different locations throughout the town. Further afield, even remote counties, townships and villages in Yushu prefecture are affected by the earthquake, due to the breakdown in the normal medical referral system. Therefore, many herding communities that we have worked with in the past — some for more than a decade — also are likely to require additional support in the months ahead. A more detailed needs assessment, including health and other areas of social service, will be carried out in the near future.
On Saturday evening, all of the medical relief camps under the direction and supervision of the prefecture health bureau — including our camp, which had operated for nearly 10 days — were requested to bring their operations to an end, as the provision of medical care for residents of Yushu was to be transitioned over to the government’s field hospitals, under the coordination of a representative from the national health bureau.
This therefore brings to a close the initial, short-term, ‘Phase One’ of Plateau Perspectives’ response to the devastating earthquake that hit Yushu on April 14, 2010. However much more will need to be done in the weeks and months ahead; and so from our perspectives, we now are simply moving into a next phase of work — including such matters as water purification, distribution of relief supplies, and other support for local partners (including both government bureaus and specific communities) that have been significantly affected by the earthquake.
Already, two water purification systems have been installed in one of the largest displaced person camps on the outskirts of Yushu, each with a proven capacity to provide potable water for over 2,500 people; and a request has been made for 30 water purification units in total, to be set up at 19 different locations throughout the town. Further afield, even remote counties, townships and villages in Yushu prefecture are affected by the earthquake, due to the breakdown in the normal medical referral system. Therefore, many herding communities that we have worked with in the past — some for more than a decade — also are likely to require additional support in the months ahead. A more detailed needs assessment, including health and other areas of social service, will be carried out in the near future.
*Above is a picture of the water machines that will be used to help provide clean drinking water to the residents in Yushu affected by the quakes.
Timeline of Plateau Perspectives relief work in Yushu/Jiegu
We have been able to map out our relief work from last week in response to the Yushu quakes. In order to grasp the big picture of the Plateau Perspectives continued relief work in Yushu we thought it would be nice to share it with you as well (click here). Also, make sure and give the video below a quick look. This video footage coincides well with the timeline and will hopefully give you an idea of how extensive the quake damage in Yushu really is.
In other news, we were able to get two fresh doctors into camp this morning for continued support of our medical relief work. We are still up and running in Yushu and doctors and nurses continue to see between 150 to 200 patients all while providing extremely thorough medical care. We continue to be pleased to be able to support the Yushu community at this time.
Yesterday we awoke to two inches of snow on the ground in Xining. Today was Yushu’s turn with snow falling for much of the morning. Our medical camp staff made the most of it and jokingly surprised the Xining staffers with this homemade sign reading “Merry Christmas from Yushu April 22, 2010!”. While most locations in North America are experiencing spring-like conditions, the Tibetan plateau’s weather during this time of year can be very temperamental. Nonetheless, we were all happy to see the medical team in good spirits.
Relief operations have been running very smoothly at our Yushu medical camp. Patients continued to file through and the doctors on site are averaging close to 150-200 patients per day. The medical camp staff are approaching treatment of nearly 1,000 patients during our time in Yushu. We remain excited to see that our water filtering systems continue to provide fresh drinking water for the people of Yushu. Needless to say we are thrilled with this initial relief response in Yushu and are making preparations to move into new phases of sustainable medical relief work in Yushu.
Yesterday we awoke to two inches of snow on the ground in Xining. Today was Yushu’s turn with snow falling for much of the morning. Our medical camp staff made the most of it and jokingly surprised the Xining staffers with this homemade sign reading “Merry Christmas from Yushu April 22, 2010!”. While most locations in North America are experiencing spring-like conditions, the Tibetan plateau’s weather during this time of year can be very temperamental. Nonetheless, we were all happy to see the medical team in good spirits.
Relief operations have been running very smoothly at our Yushu medical camp. Patients continued to file through and the doctors on site are averaging close to 150-200 patients per day. The medical camp staff are approaching treatment of nearly 1,000 patients during our time in Yushu. We remain excited to see that our water filtering systems continue to provide fresh drinking water for the people of Yushu. Needless to say we are thrilled with this initial relief response in Yushu and are making preparations to move into new phases of sustainable medical relief work in Yushu.
In an effort to show the extensive damage in Yushu, we were able to post before and after shots from similar vantage points seen above. Further away from this point you will notice more widespread damage – while many of the buildings in the foreground either collapsed directly upon themselves, tilted off their foundations, or were literally cracked down the middle. Yushu residents are still not allowed to re-enter their homes. There are sections of Yushu that can be seen in these images where literally every structure was destroyed (again, further away from this vantage point.)
*please note that these pictures are taken from the same hillside but from different vantage points approximately 100 yards from each other. Use the red building/monastery towards the center of both pictures as a reference point. For more pictures of the ongoing relief work, please click here
This morning we awoke to two inches of snow on the ground in Xining and more falling fast. It was cold and breezy at 10 AM when sirens rang out through the city marking a nationwide moment of remembrance for the victims of the earthquake. As the temperature dropped we worried that conditions in Yushu may be deteriorating, but were relieved to hear from the field that the weather there was clear.
At the medical camp, patients continued to file through, latrines were improved under direction from local health officials, and clean drinking water was made publicly available at a tap from our treatment system thus making our camp a valuable source of fresh water in Yushu. Medical transport personnel continued to carry patients to the airport for evacuation and to the camp for treatment.
It has now been one week since the Yushu earthquake, and the government medical response coordinators have thanked Plateau Perspectives for our generous contributions. We are well received by officials, police, and the people of Yushu, and are on the Health Bureau’s official register of relief camps. The Center for Disease Control inspected our camp today and were pleased with our setup, waste disposal, and cleanliness of the camp. Although there are domestic organizations aiding the relief effort, we are still the only officially recognized international NGO performing relief work in Yushu.
Tonight at about 7PM, we sent three more doctors and medical supplies through official channels to the quake zone. They should arrive early to mid morning on Thursday and will work either in our medical camp or elsewhere in the city, according to the needs as determined on the field.
Our supply truck arrived mid-morning today with fresh food and medicines. The tents were soon set up, the generators were humming, and water was being filtered and treated for drinking. Medical personnel continued to see patients throughout the day despite a short storm of hail, snow, and rain. Beyond the routine trips, one medical transport driver reported being able to take two little girls to the airport for evacuation to the city where their parents are hospitalized.
Some doctors from team 2 needed to depart for Xining this morning to catch return flights home. They traveled over icy roads through driving snow for much of the 500 mile journey, but arrived safely in Xining before 9 PM local time. Additional medical personnel are now in Xining and are expected to travel to Yushu over the next few days.
Our supply truck arrived mid-morning today with fresh food and medicines. The tents were soon set up, the generators were humming, and water was being filtered and treated for drinking. Medical personnel continued to see patients throughout the day despite a short storm of hail, snow, and rain. Beyond the routine trips, one medical transport driver reported being able to take two little girls to the airport for evacuation to the city where their parents are hospitalized.
Some doctors from team 2 needed to depart for Xining this morning to catch return flights home. They traveled over icy roads through driving snow for much of the 500 mile journey, but arrived safely in Xining before 9 PM local time. Additional medical personnel are now in Xining and are expected to travel to Yushu over the next few days.
Team 3 arrived in the Yushu area at approximately 10:30 PM on Sunday. They spent the night on the outskirts of town about a mile from our medical camp, then rendezvoused with the larger team early this morning. In addition to the supplies that they brought, another truck carrying medicines for our group also delivered six boxes this morning. There are many children coming through the camp with their parents, and often several just milling about, so some toys and distractions for the kids were also among the packages sent.
While the medical team in Yushu continued to see patients throughout the day, our team in Xining was purchasing 7 to 10 days worth of medications, medical supplies, food, and water for the camp. These were loaded onto a truck along with two high-capacity water purification systems, two generators, and three large medical tents. Team 4 (consisting of two water experts, two drivers, and one cook for the camp) departed with the supplies in the late afternoon and should arrive in Yushu tomorrow mid-day.
