Delaware

Local Group Sending Doctors to Nepal to Help Earthquake Victims

Three Philadelphia-area doctors are traveling to Nepal Sunday to assist medical personnel from around the world in their treatment of survivors of the devastating earthquake that killed more than 7,000 people.

"Initially the world rushes to these places, but down the road...," said Dr. Virnod Kripalu, a Wilmington, Delaware-based doctor, who co-founded the Delaware Medical Relief Team in 2010.

DMRT, a Wilmington-based nonprofit, formed after Haiti was struck in January 2010 by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, which injured 300,000 people and left 220,000 dead.

"Initially there is a lot of trauma in the first few days," explained Kripalu. "But that tends to decrease as you go along... and then you get a lot of people with dehydration. You get sprains and chronic diseases. People don't have medications anymore, it is the whole spectrum."

While the experience in Haiti helped prepare many of DMRT's volunteers for disaster relief, Kripalu recognizes that the situation in Nepal will present its own challenges -- which is why he and two other physicians are using nearly eight days to work out logistics for the nonprofit, Kripalu said.

The three -- the DMRT's advanced team -- are leaving from Philadelphia International Airport Sunday morning.

They'll carry six suitcases filled with medical supplies, including antibiotics. Along with spending the week treating the injured, the group will meet with local hospitals and organizations to determine who should make up the next teams.

"Surgeons, internists, cardiologists, orthopedic surgeons, [and] pharmacists have approached us," Kripalu said. "So the goal is to provide a mix of these."

Each team, comprised of some of DMRT's 30 volunteers, will spend approximately two weeks in Nepal.  The first set of doctors could head to Nepal before the advanced team even returns, said Kripalu, who added he will provide updates on the DMRT's work through the organization's Twitter account.

"We're open to anything," he said. "We're open to working in a clinic if they need us there. We're open to going out to a field if they need us there."

"My mind is already in Nepal."

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