Earthquake in Nepal

As soon as I received the alert that a devastating earthquake had occurred in Nepal, I rushed to our Israel Rescue Coalition headquarters, mobilizing my fellow volunteers and preparing them for the worst. When we arrived, we were shocked at the sheer level of destruction. We set up a health clinic in a local children’s school to treat the injured, and drove around the surrounding villages of Katmandu with a megaphone, announcing the location of our clinic and encouraging anyone who needed treatment to come. Within mere minutes, the people swarmed the clinic eager to receive medical care. Local villagers stood aside as a woman, clearly in the early stages of labor, entered our clinic. Due to the earthquake, she suffered a few minor fractures as well as open lacerations that put her at a high risk of infection. In addition, her husband, who had traveled to the next village to check on his other family members, had not yet returned. This woman was in clear physical and emotional distress. Working quickly, we treated her wounds and started an iv line of antibiotics to prevent and treat the infection. As her labor progressed, we continued to provide medical care. Just as the woman was about to give birth, her husband frantically ran into our clinic. He had heard that there was a medical clinic set up in the school and after not finding his wife, ran to our clinic in the hopes of finding her. Thankfully, we were able to provide this woman with a safe environment to deliver her baby, treat her wounds, prevent a potentially life-threatening infection, provide her baby with medical care in the first few hours of his life and reunite a family. This is something that I am grateful to be a part of and an experience I will never forget.