A 7.8 Mw earthquake struck the mountains of Nepal on April 25. I was fortunate to be able to join NYC Medics, a global disaster relief team, to provide care to those affected. We deployed 6 days later and was assigned to the remote region Jharlang. Despite arriving in the field more than a week after the earthquake, we were the first to provide care to the villagers. Many of the injuries we saw included direct trauma from houses collapsing on people to secondary infections of wounds, as well as primary care issues. Using local interpreters to interpret the local language, Tamang, to Nepali, and several interpreters who accompanied us from Kathmandu to interpret Nepali to English, we were able to treat over 600 people. Fortunately, the second earthquake on May 12 did not cause any additional injuries in our region.
Dave Young, MD
Denver, CO
Wilderness Medicine Fellow
12401 E 17th Ave, Aurora, Colorado 80045
720-848-7648
720-848-7374
emedwilderness@cuanschutz.edu
