Chile: Médecins San Frontières assesses the situation in areas most affected by the earthquake

As the Chilean authorities manage the response to the disaster, Médecins San Frontières is concentrating its efforts in the areas that are most difficult to access.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Several teams from Médecins San Frontières are assessing the needs in the Maule and Bio Bio regions of Chile, both of which were hard hit by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck last Saturday.

The earthquake’s impact zone covers nearly 1,000 kilometers along Chile’s coastal regions; many areas there have yet to be evaluated. Our teams are in contact with the Chilean government, which is managing the response to the disaster. Médecins San Frontières will focus its efforts in the more isolated areas that rescue workers have not yet reached.

A Médecins San Frontières team in the Concepción region is planning to travel today with Chilean authorities to assess the situation in the coastal area north of the city. Two other teams are covering the coast in the Maule region, both north and south of the town of Constitución. Our teams have also visited hospitals in Curicó and Chillán, both of which have received people wounded during the earthquake. We will support the hospitals through the distribution of medical supplies.

In their assessments, Médecins San Frontières workers observed significant damage in several areas, especially along the coast, which was hit both by the earthquake and the large waves it caused. But the damage does not seem to be as widespread, and the roads are in good condition. In some villages, people are sleeping in the streets, either because they lost their homes or because the daily aftershocks have made them afraid to be inside

Médecins San Frontières is also preparing a team of psychologists to provide mental health care to the population, as our workers have witnessed many people traumatised by the earthquake and subsequent tremors.

Médecins San Frontières already has 14 staff on the ground: a team consisting of doctors, nurses, logisticians and a coordinator from Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico and also Chile.