NMMU's Very Own Search and Rescue Hero
Earlier this year, Nepal was rocked by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Within five days, Gift of the Givers had mobilised 43 man team. The team consisted of six doctors, 23 Rescuers and 14 journalists.
One of the members of the team was NMMU’s Nico Louw, Programme Manager of the Emergency Medical Care, School of Clinical Care Sciences. Speaking at a presentation on Thursday, 27 August, he laid out his journey from beginning till end.
Earlier in April, the team members of the first group sent over assembled in Johannesburg at the Gift of the Givers warehouse. Departing to Nepal via Singapore Airlines proved to have its fair share of challenges, as it turned out only 700 kilograms of luggage could be taken on board, causing much of the equipment to remain in South Africa. The sniffer dogs organised to go with were also not allowed to join the mission. On arrival in Kathmandu it was discovered that of the 700kg of equipment brought, approximately half arrived, with no personal luggage.
Louw said that the first night was freezing without their sleeping bags, which was part of their personal luggage. Another problem that the team ran into was that the bathrooms at the college they were staying in were barely functioning, so they had to repair them themselves. Louw said that food is normally an issue, as the local food is often different to that which the rescuers are used to. Through all of this, though, Louw believes that nothing is as bad as what the people suffered after the earthquake.
While in Nepal, the team faced a frustrating time on the search and rescue front. Teams from all over the world descended onto Nepal, so many in fact, that the South African team could not find a location where no other team had been. However, the front where the team did make a difference was on the medical side, where they assisted greatly in reducing the pressure on the hospitals and field clinics with the sheer bulk of patients. They also helped educate local nursing students by teaching them as they worked on the various patients.
Louw was instrumental in the adoption of a search and rescue team within the Gift of the Givers rescue team. Anyone can get involved, as there are a variety of needs within the organisation.