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Immediate response and mobilization of Teams due to Beirut Port Explosion

Pays
Liban
Sources
Lebanese Red Cross
Date de publication
Origine
Voir l'original

Upon the unprecedented explosion that occurred in the Beirut port on August 4, according to official and unofficial authorities, reports indicate that the explosion resulted:

  • More than 150 people lost their lives, more than 6000 were injured and dozens were missing.
  • Nearly 300,000 people are left homeless, including 80,000 children, due to the destruction or damage to their homes
  • 4 hospitals have been damaged and are out of service (Roum, Wardieh, Geitaoui, and Karantina), including
    transferring patients from these hospitals to other hospitals outside Beirut.
  • Huge numbers of wounded people flocked to hospitals or were transported by ambulances, and the capital's hospitals announced that they would stop receiving more and began transferring the wounded to hospitals outside Beirut.
  • Significant damage occurred at malls, shops and companies, and the road network was severely disrupted in the area of the blast.
  • The electricity network was disrupted in the blast area.
  • In addition, Lebanon is suffering a difficult reality at the economic and social level.
  • The Corona epidemic has spread and large numbers of infected people

Instant HR Operations:

According to the plans put in place to respond to the disasters and immediately after the explosion, the Lebanese Red Cross mobilized its energy immediately:

  • 75 ambulances moved and were put in a state of readiness as a reserve. 50 other vehicles supported by 800 paramedics were mobilized. All emergency centers in Lebanon were mobilized, with 4 dispatch rooms and 20 logistical vehicles to provide support.
  • All 13 blood transfusion centers were mobilized and 10 of them were opened with all the technicians and workers in the centers, who were 42 people (except for Gemmayzeh, who was damaged and became out of service. As for the Jbeil Center, its technicians were enrolled in Jounieh and the technologists of Halba in Tripoli)
  • 50 volunteers from the Disaster Management Sector and 50 youth volunteers supported in organizing the entry of blood donors to the centers in order to donate
  • Approximately 25 employees of the central administration in Spears joined the center, which was severely damaged, and began to survey the damage and work to remove shattered glass and repair doors in order to preserve property

Immediate Response:

LRC worked in transporting the injured from the hospitals, which suffered from the huge numbers of injured, and transport them to hospitals outside Beirut. Several hospitals were damaged as a result of the explosion, so the patients were transferred to other hospitals, and a number of patients and medical staff in hospitals have become injured or lost their lives. In addition, paramedics scanned the damaged streets in search of injured people at the houses or under the rubble, and a large number of them were treated. Points were set up to provide first aid to the wounded, whose condition did not require transportation to hospitals, and who were received in fixed centers located around the site.

Securing Blood Units:

From the very first moment of the explosion, and with the beginning of information about its horror and the resulting damage and the growth of the number of those affected, the need for blood was declared. Hundreds of people flocked to the blood transfusion centers of the Lebanese Red Cross as well as to hospitals, blood withdrawals began, and contacts were made with hospitals to meet their demand for blood. It is worth noting that the Lebanese Red Cross has a blood transfusion center in Beirut, which was damaged and out of service.

Providing accommodation for those who lost their homes:

On the morning of the next day, and within the plan to secure 1,000 houses for the first three days after the disaster, the Lebanese Red Cross responded and provided nearly 100 families with housing. Volunteers worked to provide a number of affected families with immediate assistance in terms of food, water, hygiene supplies, masks, gloves and other Basic Relief materials: The number of beneficiaries has reached about 500 people.

Restoring Family Links:

The latest statistics issued refer to dozens of missing people. In context of restoring family links, the Lebanese Red Cross has set up two hotlines to receive calls in order to help in searching for the missing to determine their locations. Until this hour the Lebanese Red Cross has 52 tracing requests for the missing, including 11 people who were found by the LRC either in hospitals as wounded or lost their lives and that was through contacting hospital or by calling the LRC dispatch rooms. The specialized team will make field visits to hospitals in order to follow the research according to the existing nominal regulations, taking into account that the team works in compliance with all procedures and standards adopted internationally in protecting the database.

Providing psychological support and primary health care: Thousands of people have been affected by the explosion, which has caused not only physical damage but also psychological damage, and the Lebanese Red Cross teams and crews have been working, since the day after the explosion, through mobile clinics to provide medical examinations, primary health care, providing medicines to patients, and psychological support to those suffering from psychological trauma as a result of horrors afflicted them.