Team 3 - mobile clinic and ambulance

Team 3 - Impressions San Joaquin

Christmas and New Year in San Joaquin

Whilst team 3 Susanne and Katarzyan have safely arrived back, PSF members Urlike and Bettina are now in San Joaquin, where they spend Christmas and New Year. Recent pictures to follow shortly.

Team 2 reports after its return to Germany

 Team 2 came home on Wednesday morning after two and a half weeks in the Philippines.
Petra Isenhuth, pharmacist for PSF Germany, describes her impressions and experiences during the mission:
This was the first mission in emergency aid for me – side by side with many experienced team members, which gave me a good feeling from the outset.
Now I need to process all the impressions and to arrive in the “normal” pharmacy life
I will never forget our arrival in Tacloban after the flight from Cebu in a transport machine of the South Korean army. At the beginning I hid behind my camera, but after I put it away, I could hardly accept the extent of the desctruction as real. At our arrival in San Joaquin we were warmly welcomed by team 1, the priest and a lot of children. For two nights we stayed in the camp with 24 people, a little bit cramped, but possible.

Very soon we got explained the code of behaviour (- always sturdy shoes there are snails at the river! - no paper in the toilets!!!!) and showed such essential facilities as this "toilet" and the shower. The toilet is the only thing left from the house that was at that place. The self-made shower is operated with water from the drinking water treatment plant. After that, we visited the main pharmacy. Petra and Steffi from team 1 packed one mobile pharmacy each for the missions to the surroundings the next day. Andrea and I were already responsible for the main pharmacy. After surprisingly good sleep - thank you dear Koreans for the ear plugs! - the Medi team starts to work and Andrea and supplied the patients. A lot of our patients have dry coughs. Since the villagers
have begun to burn everything of their destroyed stuff that is inflammable, the smoke-filled air irritates the respiratory tract even more. "Cough and Cold" will be the words most used in the next days besides the explanation of the intake. Another focus are injuries - the villagers clean up, but most of them don't wear sturdy shoes - simply because they don't have it anymore. Wounds that need to be sewed and tetanus vaccines are on the agenda today.
In the evening the two "mobile" pharmacists return, all together over 100 patients were treated out of the camp. And we get the information that it is worth to look for other project places out of San Joaquin. The dinner - MREs (Meal, ready to eat) with illustrious names like "South American vegetable chilli" or "Indian rice pan" raise my expectations... - finally it is only important that you have eaten something. And drink, drink, drink - at least three litre a day, Navis-water with drinking powder, to substitute not only the water but also the electrolytes lost due to respiration.
The next morning starts with the farewell of team 1. Everybody is looking forward to getting home.... Our doctors do a exploratory trip to look for further need of medical care. They are successful: on the following days we will treat over 100 mobile patients besides about 60 patients in the main camp. I really enjoy the work in the mobile team - as Andrea wants to deal with the purchase of new medicine, I often go out with the mobile team. We go for example to Mayorga south of San Joaquin, where already about 150 patients wait for us in front of the school doors. Apart from a short lunch break in the air-conditioned car (only for cooling our vaccines!), we work until nightfall. Nevertheless, there are still patients, so we continue our work the next day until we drive to a refugee camp nearby at noon. Here we are eagerly awaited as well - "Commandante" - the no more than 1,45m high, newly chosen for her position boss has already prepared a place for our doctors and the pharmacy. The people here often have nothing left, so when asking for a teaspoon I often see shaking heads and I need to be creative for the right dosage. Despite everything I feel gratitude and friendliness from everyone - many reach for my hands to thank me...
After the first weekend, we got to a small hospital in Dulac (a half-hour drive) for the coming week. For two days Andrea accompanies the doctors, and then I go with them again. At the end, we will have treated and supplied over 1500 patients - an incredibly good feeling!
On Sunday, the 8th of December, one month after the disaster, our village holds a Commemoration Day. After the service many sit at the graves in front of the church and mourn killed or missing family members. I find a paper sing listing 22 names of one family and "...die on 8.Nov." ...
And nevertheless, nobody resigns to their fate or freezes with their grief and lethargy, everybody pitches in and cleans up, they take responsibility for each other and care for every village member. The caring intercourse - especially with the children - and the respect and deference for the elderly will stick in my mind.
In spite of all destruction, all suffering - a good feeling, to have joined and helped!!
(After my arrival in Germany, I realize that the topic "Hayan" has nearly disappeared from the media...)

Team 3 takes over

Since last weekend the third team with Katarzyna Ostendorf and Susanne
Mebes is in the Philippines and continues the work in the camp. We carry
on to treat about 200 patients daily.

Team 3 arriving!

This noon the next team left to Tacloban. Susanne Mebes and Katarzyna
Ostendorf, who both attended the last training for volunteers of PSF 2,
are going there for Pharmacists without borders Germany (PSF). The
hospital is still an important contact point for the population. The
patient numbers are rising. There often occur injuries that originate
from clearing work. Respiratory diseases are still a big problem because
of burning of rubbish and debris.

More pictures of the work in our camp

 

 

Pictures of the clinic

Team 1 has returned safely yesterday. Petra Lange shared the following pictures with us.

In the meantime, the team has begun to not only treat patients in San Joaquin but also in neighbouring villages with a mobile clinic that is covering different areas, partly where no health services have been provided at all after the typhoon.

Team 2 arrived!

Field hospital in operation

 Since Saturday, 23.11.2013, the medical ambulance is in operation and treats on average 80-90 patiens per day. Primarily, it is a matter of basic medical care, for example the treatment of infections, respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases as well as wound treatment. Small operations can be done es well. Therefore we brought a so called Interagency Emergency Health Kit, that is able to treat 10 000 people over a period of 3 months. Frequently, we have to treat the results of the drinking water shortage or the consumption of contaminated water. With our drining water treatment plant we continue to produce 1000 liter potable water every day.

Freitag, 22. November 2013

The camp is set up - potable water and field hospital ready

The tasc force has arrived with the complete fright, consisting of drugs, power generators, drinking water treatment plants as well as other technical equipment and aid supplies, in San Joaquin on Thursday.

The team startet directly after arrival to set up the camp and made all preparations to be able to put the drinking water treatment plant and the field hospital into service on Friday. Today already 1 000 liters potable water were provided.

On Monday, 25th November, the second team is going to depart. The pharmacicts Petra Isenhuth and Andrea Czekanski will be on board for Pharmacists without Borders.

Donnerstag, 21. November 2013

It continues...

Message from Cebu:

Freight and team 1 have arrived in the camp with the complete 
freight at around 11 am German time.