Medical Team from Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford Heading to the Philippines to Provide Relief

In response to the unprecedented disaster caused by Typhoon Haiyan, a team of medical specialists from Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford will deploy to the Philippines to help treat victims. The nine-member team of emergency physicians and nurses will depart for the devastated region on November 22.

“We have an absolute obligation and duty to provide support in this way, in any way possible,” said Colin Bucks, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Director of the Stanford Emergency Medicine Program for Emergency Response (SEMPER). “This is a tremendous opportunity to put our useful skill set to work, to do a lot of good."

SEMPER builds, trains and maintains teams of emergency medical care providers (physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians and support personnel) ready to depart for a disaster scene within six hours following a call for help. The SEMPER team will work alongside Medical Teams International in the Philippines for two weeks, providing primary care support. A second SEMPER team is also being assembled for possible deployment.

"Everyone expects an increase in infectious diseases. Wound care will be complex," Bucks said. "We're dealing with a destroyed infrastructure. So, we're going to provide as much high quality medical care as possible."

To aid in the relief effort for victims of Typhoon Haiyan, the team will take as many supplies as possible, including antibiotics, splints, scalpels and sutures. Lightweight scrubs and easy-to-assemble tents will also be part of the packing list. Some of the team members also bring with them valuable experience from working in previous relief efforts, such as treating survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

Along with Bucks, the team includes physicians Jessica Pierog, Kajal Khanna and Ian Brown. The nurses are Linda Jordan, Cheryl Guanzon, Joselinda Landon, Terri Wieske and mental health specialist Kim Woolley.

Authors

Winter Johnson
(650) 498-7056
wijohnson@stanfordchildrens.org