S’pore sends more medical, police personnel to join relief effort
The Singapore Red Cross team flew out with S$20,000 worth of medical supplies. Photo: Singapore Red Cross
KATHMANDU — As the death toll in quake-hit Nepal climbs, the Singapore Government has sent more help to aid in relief efforts.
Two doctors and four nurses from the Singapore General Hospital and a Nepalese doctor from Tan Tock Seng Hospital flew off to join the Singapore Armed Forces’ medical team on the ground, as part of the Ministry of Health’s contribution to the relief mission. They are expected to be deployed for up to two weeks, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The police also said 14 officers left for Nepal over the past two days, along with a forensic pathologist from the Health Sciences Authority. There are already 69 members in a Home Team contingent in Nepal.
“In addition, the Singapore Police Force is planning to send more officers over the next few days to aid disaster relief efforts,” it added in a news release yesterday.
Meanwhile, the first medical team from the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) arrived in Kathmandu yesterday afternoon. The team of seven, consisting of three doctors, a nurse, a paramedic and two operations volunteers, will head to Nuwakot today, a village north of Kathmandu. They arrived with nearly S$20,000 worth of medical supplies to treat conditions such as diarrhoea, cold and cough.
So far, more than 700 villagers are dead and another 900 or so have been injured during the 7.8-magnitude earthquake last Saturday. The SRC estimates that 55,000 families require assistance.
Speaking to TODAY, Ms Charis Chan, senior executive of international services at the SRC, said they are working with the Red Cross team in Nepal to deploy resources in areas that need help.
“We aim to stay till the end of the month, but are committed to stay longer (if needed),” she said. Three medical teams from the SRC will be rotated every 10 days.
As with the situation earlier this week, the SRC team was slightly delayed in arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport because of congestion.
Mr Nirajan Khadka, 32, a sales assistant at a telcommunications shop at the airport, said the situation in the building had become a lot more stable the past few days.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, people camped outside the airport in hopes of catching a flight out of the country.
But some shops at the airport have remained shut. Money changers, for instance, are not operating because they have run out of the local currency, said Mr Nirajan.
“We decided to stay open because many relief teams are coming, and they will need SIM cards to stay connected with their families,” he said.
