In the wake of Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Nepal, Fergus nurse Dorothy McEachern is once again working with Samaritan’s Purse to help people in need.
With a rising death toll from the April 25 earthquake in Nepal, officials struggled for days to gauge the full scale of the disaster and the world rushed to provide desperately needed aid.
Dozens of aftershocks jolted Nepal on Saturday and Sunday as people took shelter where they could.
Nepalese authorities continually revised the number of dead after the Himalayan country was shaken by a magnitude 7.8 quake that wrecked houses, flattened centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest.
Thousands of people were injured, with the death toll at more than 4,000 by Tuesday – and expected to rise. Nepalese police officials said more than 700 people died in the capital of Kathmandu alone.
McEachern is once again working to make a difference.
In 2014 and 2015 McEachern was in Liberia working with Samaritan’s Purse assisting victims of the Ebola virus. Other medical trips included missions in China and Haiti.
On April 27, McEachern emailed the Advertiser stating she was in Bangkok, Thailand awaiting a morning flight to Kathmandu to help with the relief efforts after the earthquake.
“I am with Samaritans purse we are the first team of eight to arrive. I am working in the capacity of operating room nurse,” McEachern wrote.
She added she was called “about noon on Saturday and I was on a plane 7am Sunday morning. This must happen fast as people are suffering, some close to death, the sooner we can get in there the better the chances of survival.
“We are just one of many relief agency’s going in. Several canine units are [being brought in] to help find survivors or bodies.”
The Samaritan’s Purse website states one of its disaster response team members who arrived in Kathmandu in the early morning hours on Sunday saw incredible destruction, death and need in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.
“There’s a lot of hurting people here,” said Patrick Seger, Samaritan’s Purse response team leader.
“I saw a number of needs out there, a number of dead people, a lot of structures had fallen. A lot of people lost their homes and lost their incomes. They’re trying to figure out what they’re going to do.”
Tens of thousands are left homeless, Seger said, adding, “There are a lot of people sleeping out in the streets. They are fearful of the buildings and don’t want to sleep inside. They are sleeping in the rain because they don’t have any other shelter.”
Samaritan’s Purse deployed disaster response experts, including medical personnel, and an initial airlift of 60 tons of relief supplies is on the way.
“We will help victims with shelter, water, hygiene kits, and other relief, and partner with mission hospital partners,” the organization’s website states. “We are sending initial supplies for 15,000 households, and anticipate doing more as the response continues.”
The team and supplies will support mission hospitals.
The quake struck an area between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Tremors were felt across the region, with further loss of life in India, Bangladesh and on Mount Everest.
The quake struck before noon local time and was most severely felt in the capital as well as the Kathmandu Valley. A magnitude-6.6 aftershock and smaller aftershocks rippled through the region for hours.
