| Type | Disaster Response; Emergency Management; Charitable organization |
|---|---|
| Tax ID No. | Canadian Charitable Registration #88439 3315 RR0001 |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Location | 150 Brant Avenue, Brantford, Ontario, N3T 3H7 Canada |
| Key people | National Chair and Regional Chair - Eastern Canada Valerie Rzepka, RN (Toronto, Ontario) Regional Chair - Western Canada Bill Coltart, PCP (Comox, British Columbia) Regional Chair - Central Canada Bill Weeks, ACP (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) Regional Chair - Atlantic Canada Dr. Carl Jarvis, MD (Halifax, Nova Scotia). |
| Area served | Canada and International |
| Focus | Disasters, Medical, Surgical, Humanitarian Relief, Development and Recovery |
| Method | Medical, Major Trauma, Primary Health Care, Maternal/ Newborn |
| Volunteers | 1000+ |
| Employees | 0 |
| Motto | Helping the world at the time of disaster |
| Website | www.canadianmedicalteams.org |
| Collaboration with Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Response, Canadian Forces, Sphere Project | |
Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) is a Canadian grassroots, non profit disaster relief organization based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Through its medical relief and development projects, CMAT seeks to improve the health and welfare of families both in Canada and in developing countries around the world.
Contents |
Canadian Medical Assistance Teams was established in 2004 in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as the medical arm of Canadian Relief Foundation. Two teams of paramedics from British Columbia and Saskatchewan were deployed to Banda Aceh, Indonesia to provide medical aid to the victims of the disaster. With lessons learned in Indonesia, CMAT prepared for further deployments.
CMAT has a database of over 1000 health professionals from across Canada, one of its strengths is the ability to be flexible. CMAT is firmly dedicated to building capacity in the communities provided with assistance, and so any project which is initiated will only be in direct partnership with local authorities and with the support, guidance and permission of the host government.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami was the first time CMAT sent medical teams overseas. Over the course of eight weeks, three Canadian medical teams consisting of paramedics and physicians were deployed to Indonesia, with the first team deploying within 10 days of disaster. CMAT’s medical team worked alongside teams from Mercy Malaysia and collaborated with Canadian consular officials from Jakarta, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to establish medical stations and administer medical care and first aid to displaced persons in Medan, Banda Aceh, and Meuloboh, Indonesia.
On August 29, 2005, the Category 3 storm made landfall in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. CMAT deployed an assessment team to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After three days in the Area of Operations (AOO) and completion of an on-ground tactical assessment, it was determined that CMAT's trauma team of physicians, trauma nurses and flight paramedics should not be deployed to the area. The two-member assessment team cited significant political infighting and substantial lack of command and control structure, which together posed serious problems for logistical support and basic information. At one point, CMAT team members reported that satellite phone communications had been jammed.
On October 8, 2005, a major earthquake centred in Pakistan-administered Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, near the city of Muzaffarabad. Occurring at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time, it registered a moment magnitude of 7.6 The disaster destroyed 50% of the buildings in Muzaffarabad (including most of the official buildings) and is estimated to have killed up to 80,000 people in the Pakistani-controlled areas of Kashmir, alone. The severity of the damage caused by the earthquake is attributed to severe upthrust, coupled with poor construction.
CMAT focused its efforts in northern Pakistan, initially in Bagh and Muzaffarabad areas sending an assessment team from Canada on October 10, consisting of search and rescue, logistics and paramedics, as well as an emergency physician. In addition, CMAT's staff in Kabul, Afghanistan conducted an assessment in affected areas in eastern Afghanistan.
This initial assessment team was followed by ten rotations of teams every three weeks, the second of which departed on October 21, 2005. The teams initially worked alongside members of the Rotary Club of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to deliver emergency medical relief, and assist and support medical staff at hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi which had been deluged with quake victims airlifted from the field. Subsequent teams were stationed in Muzaffarabad, working out of Abbass hospital, and in collaboration with the US Army's 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) Hospital, and in Garhi Dopatta, working with the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) Team, and United Nations Health Cluster.
On November 3, 2005, CMAT announced that it has been awarded over $190,000 in funding for two of its projects as part of the fund matching program through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The funds were sent to support medical teams in Muzzafferabad and other quake devastated areas.
The 2007 South Asian floods were a series of floods in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. News Agencies, citing the Indian and Bangladeshi governments, placed the death toll in excess of 2,000. By 3 August approximately 20 million had been displaced and by 10 August some 30 million people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal had been affected by flooding.
CMAT deployed a 2-member assessment team to Dhaka, Bangladesh to meet its local partner on August 18, 2007. According to CMAT assessment team, doctors and nurses were overwhelmed at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh hospital, as over 1800 patients were being seen every 24 hours with acute GI distress, typhoid, skin and eye infections and severe dehydration with outside temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius.
A four-member member team consisting of advanced care paramedics and a nurse practitioner were deployed to Bangladesh, in collaboration with a local partner Fazlullah Foundation, and spent three weeks providing medical relief in Gopalganj District (Bangladesh), one of the most flood affected areas in Bangladesh alongside the Bangladesh Auxiliary Services for Social Advancement (BASSA).
CMAT also endorsed the activities of the Dhaka Project - a grassroots humanitarian project started by Ms. Maria Conceicao, a flight attendant for Emirates Airways. Conceicao was so moved by the plight of Dhaka's homelessness and poverty that she spearheaded the Dhaka Project, a program to alleviate homelessness, unemployment and disease through sustainable educational projects, employment training of men and women, nursery programs, and medical clinics. CMAT supported the project with a grant of $8,000 USD.
2008 Sichuan earthquake, China
CMAT deployed their assessment team to the province of Sichuan in China, where an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale occurred on May 12, 2008 at approximately 14:00 local time. Reports indicated over 68,000 people died, including many school children trapped in collapsed school buildings.
The assessment team conducted an in-depth assessment of the region, partnering with contacts on the ground, and advised that the Chinese government, military and local Red Cross had done a commendable job in the rescue and recovery effort. With over 100,000 Chinese Military and over 1000 medical staff in the region, the most seriously injured citizens had already been evacuated to larger centres. CMAT's offer of providing medical teams to the area was declined by Government officials, and it was on their advice that CMAT has decided to immediately shift the focus of the relief effort in China. CMAT investigated other projects which were completed with donor funding.
In 2010, CMAT Chair visited the temporary home of the Mianyang Youxian District Special Education School, and presented a cheque for Y85,000 (approx $12,500 CAD).
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan