An emergency field hospital has been airlifted in response to growing medical needs in Ecuador earthquake.
On April 20 Samaritan’s Purse began to transport our emergency field hospital and medical personnel to Ecuador in response to the country’s deadliest earthquake in decades.
The airlift marked the inaugural flight of our newly-refurbished DC-8 cargo plane. Thirty medical staff will be joining personnel already on the ground along the northern coast of Ecuador, the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday evening, killing more than 480 and injuring thousands. We also have water/sanitation and shelter experts there to meet needs in those areas.
“This plane and this hospital gives us even more capacity to respond in Jesus’ name around the world,” Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said on Wednesday from the airlift event in Greensboro, North Carolina. “This hospital could be the only hope for thousands of people to get health care right now.”
“We plan to use this plane all over the world, Graham continued “I put a cross on the tail of this airplane. I want everyone to know that this plane is coming in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given us this plane and hospital, and we are thankful.
“OK. Now all of the passengers load up. We got work to do.”
Ongoing and Growing Response
The airlift Wednesday is the first in a series of three upcoming flights to earthquake-affected areas of Ecuador. Our recently-refurbished DC-8 cargo plane can carry 40 tons of emergency supplies and up to 30 people to bring relief to traumatized survivors.
The emergency field hospital being transported over the coming days will have an emergency room with the capacity to see more than 100 people a day, an operating theatre with the ability to perform 7-10 surgeries daily, 20 inpatient beds, and an outpatient clinic with an adjunct lab, ultrasound imaging capabilities, and onsite pharmacy.
Dr. Richard Furman, co-founder of World Medical Mission, also was on the plane to help set up the field hospital. “It is an exciting time for the ministry to have this capacity to help people,” he said,
In addition to helping relieve the overwhelming medical need, Samaritan’s Purse is also at work to bring clean water to 50,000 people and to meet the shelter needs for 5,000 households.
Please pray for the Ecuadorian people as they face this disaster.
