The Calgary branch of Samaritan’s Purse Canada is sending an emergency field hospital to Myanmar, in response to the deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck last week.
On Friday, Myanmar and Thailand were rocked by the strong earthquake that collapsed multiple buildings and infrastructure and led to the deaths of more than 1,700 people.
Countless others were injured in the initial quake and the 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
The equipment will be used by search and rescue teams to help victims, officials said.
“The nice thing about this emergency field hospital is, once it gets to Yangon, we’ll be able to put it on trucks and roll it right to where it’s most needed, set it up and start serving hurting people,” said Fred Weiss, executive director with Samaritan’s Purse Canada.
“We’ll be able to help about 200 patients and facilitate 30 surgeries each day.”
The field hospital includes two operating theatres, an emergency room, in-patient wards, a pharmacy and a laboratory.
