Ahmedabad, India
April 2001
Medicine International (MI) initially responded to the Gujarat Earthquake in India on January 25, 200l. This earthquake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was the town of Bhuj. One month after the earthquake, official government of India figures place the death toll at 19,727 and the number of injured at 166,000.
Medicine International noted that there was great variability in the medical response that various governmental and nongovernmental organizations provided. It was evident that in a disaster of this magnitude, medical personnel often feel frustrated operating outside the security of fixed clinics and hospitals. Volunteers would arrive with medical supplies, but no tent or flashlight. We were asked many times in different contexts to help secure the training necessary to operate as a medical first responder and how to function effectively and safely in adverse circumstances.
Medicine International collaborated with Stanford University Medical Center and several philanthropic sponsoring organizations including the IndUS Entrepreneurs and the American India Foundation, to go to Ahmedabad and meet with various civil and private organizations that fielded substantial numbers of medical volunteers to the work at the earthquake's epicenter.
Dr. Stinson was the team leader of a disaster medical response training program improving the emergency medical response capability of health care providers in the Gujarat region of India. Medicine International then prepared proposals for ongoing Medical First Responder Courses for personnel at the Civil Hospital and the Gujarat Medical Association, as well as for other Indian nongovernmental health organizations. Medicine International looks forward to providing ongoing seminars in India.