Toronto Sun Article: Canuck teams rush to help

Mothers search for lost children, praying they are not buried under the towering mounds of mud that are creating mass graves.

Neighbours try in vain to save victims, desperately clawing through sludge and debris.

Death comes indiscriminately.

This is the aftermath of Typhoon Durian, which ravaged the Philippines on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. The devastated region was struck by another storm on Dec. 11.

Heavy rains triggered mud slides that killed hundreds, knocked out municipal water treatment systems and blocked roads, limiting access for rescue teams. High winds have downed power lines, ripped apart houses and caused havoc.

1 MILLION AFFECTED

A million people have been affected; 100,000 or so have lost their homes, livelihoods and access to clean water. They seek refuge in schools, churches, and makeshift shelters.

The stage is set for the outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases. Close quarters, poor sanitary conditions, weakened immune systems, depleted food stocks will all factor in to potential outbreaks of diseases that could decimate the survivors.

Global Medic, an arm of the David Antony Gibson charitable foundation based in Toronto, sent a Rapid Response Team to help in rescue efforts.

Team members are professional rescuers, such as paramedics, police officers and firefighters who volunteer to help those in need around the world.

The unit runs three teams: a search-and-rescue unit, a water unit to provide clean drinking water and a medical unit that uses inflatable field hospitals.

After a 39-hour journey, team members have set up a main water-purification depot in Daraga, a town of 110,000 with no running water.

ACUTE DIARRHEA

Outbreaks of acute diarrhea are occurring. Water purification tablets are being distributed in affected areas.

Toronto paramedic Michael Larsen, a six-year volunteer, is on his first overseas assignment with Global Medic.

Larsen is manning a makeshift rescue unit carrying a stretcher, emergency medical supplies, a portable water purifier, water purification tablets and a bladder filled with 1,000 litres of drinking water. He was overwhelmed by the rush of people to his aid truck while delivering aid to an impoverished inner-city neighbourhood.

He retreated to the front of his truck to form an action plan to deal with the chaos. As he peered back toward the crowd, he saw a civil line had formed. The reason? A Sri Lankan nun who survived the tsunami in her country only to endure this typhoon had restored order.

Don Ryan, a 32-year police sergeant, is the taskmaster at the central water station, training locals to use the equipment and keep clean water flowing long after our departure.

A second typhoon in as many weeks roared through the region after we arrived.

We were forced to scale back operations to allow the storm to pass.

High winds tore at the roof of our base unit, heavy rains fall, more roads were washed away and we watched in awe as mother nature's power passed by.

DEVASTATED

In the town of Oas, devastated by landslides and a lack of aid, more than 3,500 people lined up for water.

We dispatched truckload after truckload of water to ensure the need is met and have installed a portable purification system.

A bridge collapsed, resulting in longer transport times and earlier starts to the day but the aid arrived.

Brienna Ross Hood is an infantry soldier with the Canadian Forces and served a tour in Afghanistan.

She joined Global Medic as a volunteer in June and is on her first deployment.

Hood has been a jack of all trades: running the depot, ferrying aid to inner-city neighbourhoods, running water trucks, setting up water-purification systems, and filling water jugs and getting them dispersed to the shelters.

There is something special about the people who volunteer their time to be part of the Global Medic team.

They make a lot of sacrifices to get the job done and help those in need.

Day after day, we work alongside our Filipino counterparts. We deliver aid to the people and provide hope.

For updates on Global Medic in the Philippines, visit dmgf.org.

Rahul Singh, a Toronto paramedic, is director of Global Medic