Sichuan earthquake: One year overview of activities

© MSF. MSF responds to the earthquake, here in orthopaedic hospital of Hanwang.

On 12 May 2008, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Sichuan Province in China, leaving more than 80,000 people dead and 370,000 people injured. The epicenter of the quake was Wenchuan located in the northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Some 90,000 buildings collapsed and more than 10 million people were left homeless. Up to 40 international staff and 16 national staff of Médecins Sans Frontières have worked in the affected areas to provide relief materials, medical care, and psychological support. Today, Médecins Sans Frontières continues to offer psychological care to the affected people in Sichuan.

Emergency Period    

Distribution of Relief Materials
The first Médecins Sans Frontières teams arrived the day after the earthquake to conduct assessments. The results of initial assessments revealed the urgent needs for shelters, drinking water, and medical materials. Most pharmacies in the area were destroyed by the quake and people faced a dire shortage of medicines. In collaboration with Sichuan Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières donated 4,310 family-size winter tents for more than 25,000 affected people and 300 kg of medical equipments and drugs in Mianzhu City, approximately 60 km east of the epicenter. Médecins Sans Frontières also donated 800 rolls of plastic sheeting and other basic items for the people in the affected areas.

Medical Care
While the local and national response was massive, the specialised medical care was needed for the injured people, as hospitals in the affected areas had been severely damaged and many were unusable. A Médecins Sans Frontières team including orthopedic surgeons provided support for a triage referral center in Guanghan city in the hard-hit prefecture of Deyang. Another Médecins Sans Frontières team of two nephrologists provided support to treat patients suffering from crush syndrome in three hospitals in Chengdu. Médecins Sans Frontières also provided clinical support to a hospital in Hanwang, Mianzhu city.

Psychological Care
After the earthquake, people lost their family members, saw others getting hurt or killed, witnessed massive destruction, and had to flee their homes. Many people were grieving over the loss of their loved ones and clearly in need of psychological care to regain a sense of balance in their lives. Médecins Sans Frontières psychologists provided psychological counselling to the victims of the quake in a hospital in Chengdu and Guanghan. During the emergency period, Médecins Sans Frontières psychologists offered ‘psychological first aid’, which includes active listening, conveying compassion, encouraging social support, and screening for more severe psychological problems.

Post-Emergency Period

Psychological Care
Almost two weeks after the earthquake, reconstruction efforts were underway in Sichuan, but many people felt anxious and being fearful of aftershocks, experiencing a wide range of stress-related psychosomatic symptoms. From 1 June 2008, a team of Médecins Sans Frontières psychologists offered psychological education and care in Longmenshan Township, Pengzhou to normalise reactions and teach the use of self-help techniques to manage symptoms. Another team of Médecins Sans Frontières psychologists offered psychological care in Hanwang, Mianzhu city to reassure people that fears and anxiety are normal reactions, and that anyone can experience such problems. By September 2008, 163 patients were followed and 290 consultations were conducted in Mianzhu. In Pengzhou, Médecins Sans Frontières conducted a total of 39 sessions of psychological education for 746 people and 54 sessions of individual counselling.   

Reconstruction Period

Almost six months after the quake, rebuilding of collapsed buildings were underway, but many people were still living in a temporary housing and unsure of their future. People continued to suffer from mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, sadness, and feeling hopeless. Moreover, there were a limited number of trained psychologists who can provide clinical psychological care to patients in China.

Current Médecins Sans Frontières activities in Sichuan
From November 2008, in collaboration with Chinese Academy of Science and Crisis Intervention Centre, Médecins Sans Frontières has been providing psychological care to the people suffering from psychological disorders due to the earthquake in Mianzhu city and Beichuan County, one of the worst affected areas in Sichuan.

Under the supervision of Médecins Sans Frontières psychologists, ten Chinese counsellors have been providing psychological counselling at the consultation rooms set up in five temporary housing sites in Bayi School, YonXhin, Wudu, ZhuLin, and Leigu, in the area of Mianzhu and Beichuan. After the counsellors conduct home visits to assess possible patients, they screen if the person is in need of psychological support and then provide psychological therapy (brief therapy: between 6 and 20 consultations) for patients to diminish their symptoms.

By March 2009, Médecins Sans Frontières team assessed more than 650 people, followed 300 patients, and conducted about 1,500 consultations. Médecins Sans Frontières also provides training and supervising to these Chinese counsellors to help them dealing with patients and assure a good quality of care.

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 One year after the earthquake: Médecins Sans Frontières continuously offers psychological care in Sichuan - 11-05-09 14:24