Tsunami relief efforts - AIMS swings into action

In the hours following the world's most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years, the coastal areas of Southern India experienced severe, sudden flooding and devastation as tsunami seawaters engulfed entire settlements. In a matter of minutes, coastal residents suffered extreme loss of life, livelihood, homes and belongings.

Immediately following the catastrophe, the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre (AIMS Hospital) located in Cochin, Kerala, India, deployed six ambulances with a team of doctors and other healthcare workers to the Kollam District, which was particularly hard hit. Each ambulance was fully-equipped with medicine, a ventilator, and other life-saving equipment and supplies, and also had the capability of serving as an emergency surgical unit.

As soon as they reached Kollam, the doctors accompanied by teams of assistants, began making rounds of all nine relief camps that had been established on the mainland. They also made trips out to the evacuated coastal area from Azhikal to Pandarathuruttu. Within the first 48 hours, the emergency medical outreach teams had distributed more than 400,000 Indian Rupees worth of medicine and served more than 2,000 victims.

"You see, these people know us," says Dr. Raghavendra, who works at AIMS and the Amrita Kripa Charitable Hospital in Vallikkavu. "Many of them have been coming to Amrita Kripa for years. When they see it is us, they come running. Their main problem is depression. So many have lost everything."

"All they know is gone," adds Dr. Ashok, a neuro surgeon who is based at AIMS. "Imagine, you have nothing but a small house on the beach for 30 or 40 years and then in five minutes, that is completely washed away. They are in shock. They have lost daughters, husbands, wives, fathers... Some are suffering from small wounds, cuts, abrasions, pieces of glass lodged in their feet. We treated someone the other day for a fractured rib. But the big problem is depression and anxiety. They really need people to talk to them. We ask them a few questions, calm them down, and then they immediately open up and just start crying. They tell us 'My house is gone', or 'I lost my child... I lost my wife.’”

“From the outset, the doctors knew it was serious,” says Dr. Ram Mohan, who serves at Amrita Kripa. "Within one hour after the waters hit, our residents brought in the bodies of two men who had drowned, and these were big men; young and strong."

These selfless individuals are helping all they can, but for some wounds there are no painkillers. After 48 hours of relief work, the doctors have heard many sad stories. "We came to one camp and this woman just out of nowhere became hysterical. She had just learned that her 15-year-old daughter had been discovered among the dead," says Dr. Raghavendra. "Another man was complaining of chest pain, only upon speaking with him did we realize it was because he too had lost a daughter."

Dr. Ram Mohan tells similar tales. "One man came in the other day, and from his demeanor you could immediately tell something was seriously wrong. He was reactionless, completely without emotion, indifferent. Slowly we came to realize that five people in his family had been killed."

Healthcare Charities, Inc., a non-profit medical services organization in Castro Valley, California is working closely with the AIMS Hospital to coordinate the shipment of donated medical equipment and supplies to the medical institution to aid in their tsunami relief efforts.

Inquiries regarding in-kind donations of medical equipment and supplies may be emailed to Lela Kudritzki, HCI’s In-Kind Donations Coordinator (aims@aimsproject.org). To make a monetary donation please click here.

Healthcare Charities, Inc. (HCI) is a non-profit, public benefit corporation, registered and incorporated in the State of California in 1995, and granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Additionally, HCI was granted Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) status with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). PVO’s are partners with USAID, carrying out long-term sustainable development and humanitarian relief activities.

HCI supports the improvement of healthcare systems both domestically in the U.S. and internationally. The organization identifies worthy recipients to receive grants of medical equipment and supplies. All commodities are donated by HCI to the recipient institutions entirely free of charge with the express agreement that they are not to be re-sold.

In this connection, HCI identified the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre (AIMS Hospital) in Cochin, Kerala, India as a deserving charitable medical institution to receive grants of medical equipment and supplies. The majority of the equipment in use at the hospital has been purchased by HCI, using contributions of supporting individuals and groups. As of this writing HCI has shipped over 90 40-foot ocean containers and nearly 60 air freight consolidations of new and donated medical equipment and supplies to AIMS.

The Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre (AIMS), inaugurated on May 17, 1998, was founded under the inspiration of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi, a world-renowned humanitarian and recipient of the prestigious Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence.

AIMS is a multi-specialty, charitable non-profit medical center, providing advanced diagnostic evaluations as well as major medical and surgical interventions.

The hospital provides outstanding and affordable medical care in a patient-oriented environment, in a spirit of compassion to all, regardless of race, caste, religion, or economic condition. In just over six years, the hospital has treated over 57,000 inpatients and served more than 590,000 outpatients – providing charitable care to the fullest extent possible for those in need. In the past AIMS has helped in the relief efforts for the earthquake in Gujarat.

For more information about AIMS click here.
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