Sun, November 5, 2006
Ready for the world
Paramedics train for international disasters
By LAURA CZEKAJ, OTTAWA SUN |
The loud whooshing sound of air filling the large, marshmallow white inflatable hospital could be heard throughout the parking garage at Ottawa Paramedic headquarters yesterday.
A group of Ottawa and area paramedics, 55 in all, were either helping hoist the portable operation room/treatment centre or learning about the intricacies of equipment used to purify water for citizens dying of thirst due to polluted water sources.
The trainees included paramedics from Ottawa , Prescott-Russell, Renfrew and Cornwall .
All these paramedics are here on their own time to learn how to help citizens in the wake of man-made or natural disasters.
'LITTLE EXTRAS'
The training and the equipment was provided by non-profit DMGF GlobalMedic which is in the process of recruiting for its disaster response team.
Francois Cote, a paramedic team leader with Ottawa paramedics, took the training in the summer with a colleague and was so impressed they worked to bring it to Ottawa .
"If there were ever to be an earthquake, a tsunami or other disaster and other countries need help, we as paramedics are trained for the medical part of it and now we are getting the little extras," he said.
Helping people is in a paramedic's disposition and that's why the concept of assisting those afflicted b y war or disaster is such a perfect fit, said Cote .
"I think it's in our nature, that's why we took on the job," he said.
The paramedics, who will be deployed, will do it on their own time and will be sent in staggered groups with Toronto paramedic volunteers so as to not leave either city understaffed.
Among the numerous catastrophes where GlobalMedic teams of paramedics have been deployed are the Sri Lanka tsunami, the hurricane that hit Guatemala , and earthquakes in Pakistan and Indonesia .
VICTIMS OF WAR
But the most recent trip taken by the team was to help war victims in southern Lebanon . GlobalMedic delivered more than 3.25 million tablets of emergency medicines, 5.6 million water purification tablets, deployed an inflatable field clinic and 10 water purification units.
Quietly watching the field clinic being inflated yesterday, Georges Abou Zeid, first secretary with the Embassy of Lebanon, said the ongoing efforts by GlobalMedic are not only needed, but appreciated by Lebanese citizens.
He said water purification is necessary because drinking water systems were seriously damaged or destroyed during attacks by Israel .