Canadian medics assess Pakistan relief needs
Last Updated: Sunday, September 5, 2010 | 9:31 PM ET
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- • Canadian Red Cross
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- • World Vision Canada
- • Save the Children Canada
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A small team of Canadian medics headed to Pakistan on Sunday to help flood victims.
The organization Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) is deploying three people from across Canada. They boarded a plane at Toronto's Pearson airport for a flight to Karachi.
CMAT national chair Valerie Rzepka said the team will assess needs on the ground. Members will be bringing basic medical supplies with them and will buy things such as IV fluids and pharmaceuticals while in Pakistan.
"We are also preparing to send the field hospital if it's needed," she said.
CMAT teams, made up of volunteer health professionals, have responded to numerous disasters and most recently were dispatched to Léogâne, Haiti to help earthquake survivors. CMAT also joined relief efforts after the October 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan.
Heavier than normal monsoon rains triggered floods in northwest Pakistan in late July.
About 1,600 people have died as a result of the floods and over 17 million survivors have been affected.
Flood waters are receding but many parts of Pakistan remain cut off. Those who are able to return home are finding crops destroyed, roads washed away and no power.
There are fears of cholera outbreaks and other waterborne diseases in Sindh and Punjab provinces.
CMAT says hundreds of thousands of people in flooded areas are at risk of acquiring infectious diseases.
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