Myongji Hospital sent medical team to Nepal

Lee Wang-jun, third from left, chairman of the Myongji Medical Foundation, poses with Myongji Hospital’s medical assistant team headed by Kim In-byung, second from left, director of the hospital’s emergency medical center, at Incheon International Airport, Monday before leaving for Nepal for relief work. / Courtesy of Myongji Hospital

By Chung Hyun-chae

Myongji Hospital sent a medical assistance team to Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, as part of its relief efforts for the quake-stricken Himalayan country.

The team is comprised of five doctors and nurses who took part in voluntary medical service in Nepal last month. Kim In-byung, director of the hospital’s emergency medical center leads the team.

For an efficient relief activity, an official of the Migrant Health Association in Korea accompanied the medical volunteers.

A hospital spokesman said the team will work with the Nepalese for rescue and relief work by providing emergency medical service for those hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Saturday and ensuing aftershocks. The natural disaster claimed more than 3,200 lives.

He said the team will also assess the emergency situation to help the Seoul government work out how to response to the disaster and organize a relief mission for Nepal.

In cooperation with the Migrant Health Association and the Incheon Sarang Hospital, Myongji Hospital has provided volunteer medical service to Nepal since 2007. They also established two local health centers in Nepal in which they have worked together for a Nepalese medical modernization project.

“It is meaningful that we, who have formed the medical network with Nepal for the past eight years, engage in the relief efforts,” said Lee Wang-jun, chairman of the Myongji Medical Foundation and vice president of the migrant health association.

According to the United Nations, local hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley are overcrowded with those injured and are also without power and water after the quake and aftershocks.

Other countries including the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Israel and Singapore have begun to send relief missions to Nepal.