The UN has estimated that eight million people have been affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake. Officials say at least 5,000 are dead and more than 10,000 have been injured.
Source/Credit: Bath Chronicle
By Amanda Cameron | April 28, 2015
A Bath medic is flying to Nepal tonight to help treat the thousands injured in Saturday's devastating earthquake.
Dominic Morgan, who works at St Martin's Hospital in Bath, is among a 12-strong medical disaster response team from the UK flying to Kathmandu with charity Humanity First.
The 51-year-old, who trained as a paramedic, will act as the deputy leader of the team of 10 surgeons, doctors and A&E paramedics and two logistics experts.
Speaking from Humanity First's London headquarters today (Tuesday April 28), Mr Morgan said the team were flying at 9.30pm and hoped to be in Kathmandu by tomorrow afternoon.
Once on the ground, they will be directed by the Nepalese Government to areas near the quake's epicentre where they are needed most.
Mr Morgan said every member of the team was trained and experienced in disaster first response and so was prepared for what they might face.
The UN has estimated that eight million people have been affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake. Officials say at least 5,000 are dead and more than 10,000 have been injured.
Mr Morgan said: "We expect the number of fatalities, injured and displaced to continue to rise."
Having worked with Humanity First since 2004, Mr Morgan said he has a good idea of what he would see in Nepal based on his experience after major earthquakes in Kashmir in 2005 and Haiti in 2010.
"I've done it enough times to know what to expect, and that makes me apprehensive as I know the scale of what you're likely to see.
"Having been to Kashmir and Haiti, I would expect to see the full range of traumatic injuries as well as ongoing issues around medical care, food and shelter for the survivors.
"Nothing really prepares you for this, though," he added. "It's even difficult to quantify and describe. It would be difficult to put into words what it would look like."
Mr Morgan said the first response team were putting themselves at risk by going to Nepal but that they wanted to use their skills to help those in need.
They will be replaced by a fresh team from Canada in two weeks.
Humanity First's deputy medical director, Dr Hammad Khan, said: "We are incredibly privileged to have Dominic Morgan as part of Humanity First's Medical Disaster Response team.
"The team are going fully equipped with medical equipment and supplies and will spend 12 days in Kathmandu and the surrounding area providing emergency medical care to the people of Nepal who have been victims of this devastating earthquake."
Mr Morgan lives in Salisbury with his wife and two of their four children.
He is the Urgent Care Network lead for Bath and North East Somerset's Clinical Commissioning Group at St Martin's Hospital, and has been head of operations for Humanity First's medical division since 2007.
Read original post here: -Bath medic heads to Nepal earthquake zone with Humanity First's medical disaster response team
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