BOONE, N.C., April 18, 2016 —When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday, Samaritan’s Purse immediately began mobilizing supplies and experienced relief workers to aid in the aftermath. Now the organization has a team of seven on the ground working through local church partners, and its emergency field hospital and medical staff will be arriving soon.
“The earthquake in Ecuador has caused incredible death, injury, destruction and loss,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. . “We are responding in the Name of Jesus Christ to help with emergency needs such as water, shelter, and medical care. Please keep the people of Ecuador in your prayers.”
The emergency field hospital is a mobile unit that will give Samaritan’s Purse a physical location to treat and help patients in need. It will have an emergency room with the capacity to see more than 100 people a day, an operating theatre with the ability to perform 7-10 surgeries daily, 20 in-patient beds, and an outpatient clinic with an adjunct lab, ultrasound imaging capabilities, on-site pharmacy and pharmacist. Approximately 40 medical personnel will staff the field hospital each day.
In addition to the overwhelming medical need, Samaritan’s Purse is also working to bring clean water to 50,000 people and meet the shelter needs for 5,000 households.
Samaritan’s Purse responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situation. Led by Franklin Graham, Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit www.samaritanspurse.org.
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