They’d wait for the emergency medical brigade from Fundación Margarita Valiente, carrying a Direct Relief-issued emergency medical backpack. For many of them, the glow stick provided in the pack became a recognizable symbol: A medical worker was nearby.

“It is something to have a little clinic on your back,” said Dr. Ronaldo Similox, the head of the emergency response and community support NGO, which serves Guatemala’s Maya population, of the field medic packs. “To attend to the trauma, the equipment inside the bag is very, very important for us.”

Dr. Similox said thousands of people had fled eruption events this year. Many others, unable or unwilling to leave their homes behind, needed care as well. Providers at Fundación Margarita Valiente, which operates two clinics in Chimaltenango and supports 20 Maya-focused clinics throughout Guatemala, treated respiratory infections, skin and eye injuries, and urgent mental health symptoms.

People of Mayan descent make up about half Guatemala’s population. They are not a monolithic entity: There are 22 distinct Maya groups, each of which has its own distinct cultural, linguistic, and historical identity. Many of those who live in Volcán de Fuego’s vicinity have no other viable choice. In the aftermath of Guatemala’s brutal, 36-year civil war, and the decades-long genocide of hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Maya people, the volcano-adjacent land was offered to surviving communities, explained Dr. Similox, who is a member of the Kaqchikel people, the second-largest Maya group in the country.

“It’s a very dangerous place,” he said. His patients “have no land, they have no money to have a safer piece of land. Poverty in the population is very high, so they don’t have a place to go.”

About 40% lack electricity, Dr. Similox said – often because their villages are located in such seismically active areas that electrical infrastructure would simply topple over.

Dr. Similox explained that his Maya heritage helps him identify with his patients and understand their needs. Many speak a Mesoamerican language with little or no Spanish, for example, and understanding their customs, beliefs, and even foods helps him provide nuanced and culturally appropriate care. He said Fundación Margarita Valiente also prioritizes hiring and training Maya women professionals.

The goal is to “strengthen their experience and empower their work,” he explained.

Fundación Margarita Valiente was founded in the aftermath of Guatemala’s devastating 1976 earthquake, which killed approximately 23,000 people and caused widespread devastation. In the earliest days, Dr. Similox recalled, providers focused on widows and orphans – providing primary and maternal health care and nutritional support for malnourished children. Today, specialty and tertiary care, as well as emergency services and safe shelters for evacuees, are also available to patients. Additional programs support educational and community development. One of the foundation’s two clinics is dedicated to mental health care.

The Guatemalan Civil War caused “many problems with health” that persist today, Dr. Similox said. Because so much genocidal violence was focused on men, many women and children were left without husbands and fathers. Today, many of his patients are farmers and weavers struggling to get by.

Volcán de Fuego makes things more complicated. For many people, evacuation means endangering the homes and lives they’ve built, Dr. Similox explained, so providing care to displaced people and those sheltering at home are both essential. The volcano’s extremely high level of activity – its last cataclysmic disruption was recent, in 2018 – is both part of the background and an ever-present danger.

When the volcano erupted in March, Direct Relief provided Fundación Margarita Valiente with 36 emergency medical backpacks, N95 masks, and a range of requested medications and supplies, such as women’s hygiene kits and water purification tablets. All told, Direct Relief has shipped more than $600,000 in material medical aid to Fundación Margarita Valiente since March or this year, and about $10.4 million in medicines, equipment, and supplies since 2009.

Dr. Jose Quinillá Santos, a physician who coordinates local emergency brigade missions, described using his Direct Relief-issued field medic packs during the Volcán de Fuego response to assess patients’ vital signs, perform diagnostics, and provide pre-hospital care to patients who needed more extensive treatment. “The supplies and instruments contained in the backpack are of vital importance,” Dr. Santos said.

Dr. Similox said even the packs themselves are increasingly recognized in his patient community. “When people see these kinds of backpacks, they say help is coming,” he said. “Somebody will help them.”

Luis David Rodriguez contributed reporting to this story.

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Direct Relief is currently coordinating with the Pan American Health Organization, local partners, and pharmaceutical companies with manufacturing capacity in the region.

Direct Relief is working with local partners, including Nuestros Ahijados, Presbiterio Kaqchikel, and Fundación Proemigrant, which are all responding to needs of those displaced and injured by the volcanic eruption.

Prior to Sunday’s blast, medicines and other critical supplies had been staged for emergency response, and medical staff had immediate access to that inventory.

In times of emergency, people forced to flee their homes are often left without access to the medications they need to manage chronic conditions, like diabetes or heart disease. Direct Relief has been sending regular shipments of essential medicines to Guatemala for over 30 years, and the current supply of these medicines is being used to meet the medical needs of those displaced.

As the volcano disaster response transitions from the emergency to the recovery phase, Direct Relief will work closely with local partners to ensure they have what they need to continue providing health care to affected communities.

Guatemala has a history of significant natural disasters, including other volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes, and officials report that Sunday’s explosion is Fuego’s most devastating in over 40 years.
Direct Relief is funding the purchase of equipment for first responders, as well as sending other supplies needed to care for thousands of displaced people in the region.

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The eruption sent molten rock and ash up to 33,000 feet into the sky, cascading down into villages surrounding the volcano. Most of the deaths are caused by pyroclastic flows.

“Pyroclastic flows occur when eruption columns become too dense to keep rising and instead collapse down the flank of the volcano,” according to volcanologist Dr. Madelaine Willcock  “They are made up of gas, volcanic material, and other debris, can travel at hundreds of kilometres per hour, and be hundreds of degrees Celsius, making them one of the deadliest volcanic phenomena.”

Direct Relief Latin America program staff are in close communication with local partner organizations and will be continuing to coordinate information and needs over the next 48 hours. Local partner Asociación Nuestros Ahijados reported that they have already begun distributing pre-positioned Direct Relief emergency supplies, including N-95 masks.

The typical characteristics of a volcano emergency response are a short 24-­ to 48-hour emergency phase, followed by an extended recovery phase, which may be weeks or years, depending on the context. The emergency phase encompasses the critical window when those people injured in the initial eruption need to receive urgent life-saving care.

The recovery phase is characterized by the extended period of elevated primary health needs among the affected community, particularly those families displaced and living in evacuation centers. The main primary health problems during a volcano response are: respiratory and eye issues, exacerbated chronic conditions, dermatological issues, and maternal and child health care.

Factors that can extend the recovery phase are damage and contamination of sources of drinking water, such as wells, river systems, dams and catchment areas, as well as deforestation and the destruction of crops and livestock, which creates increased vulnerability among subsistence communities and undermines livelihoods. All these factors combine to weaken community health resiliency and increase the need to support local health care providers.

The Guatemalan government has not called for international assistance at this stage. Direct Relief Latin America and emergency response staff will continue to coordinate with and support local partners responding to this disaster.

The post Emergency Alert: Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano Erupts appeared first on Direct Relief.

Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano begun erupting on Saturday, spewing ash and rocks into surrounding villages and forcing the closure of the main international airport in Guatemala City, 25 miles to the northeast.

Direct Relief is in close contact with representatives of partner organization God’s Child Project in the eruption zone.

Patrick Atkinson, CEO of God’s Child Project, reported that there are large numbers of evacuees, and that they have already opened their pre-positioned Direct Relief Emergency Medical Module in response to the eruption.

Atkinson also reported that, “The ash and poisonous gases are rolling across the valley where our project, programs, and hospital for malnourished infants is located.”

Direct Relief is currently preparing to send an emergency shipment of requested items, including inhalers and face masks.

Direct Relief emergency staff are maintaining close contact with partners in the eruption zone and we will be monitoring the situation as it develops in the next 48 hours.

The post Responding to Medical Needs after Volcano Erupts in Guatemala appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief originally sent the supplies as part of a hurricane preparedness module program, but the supplies can be used to treat a wide variety of health needs in any emergency.

Javier Castro of God’s Child Project said the module will be used to get first-aid medicines to those arriving at the shelter in need. The government asked God’s Child Project, or Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados, to open an evacuation center as it is located less than 10 miles away from the volcano.

The module, valued at $57,000, contains nutritional supplements, wound dressings, and antibiotics as well as medicines for certain chronic medical conditions and contains enough medicines and supplies to treat up to 5,000 people for one month.

Many of those displaced by the eruption are beginning to stream into Antigua. Castro reported that other shelters have been set up in nearby rural areas but appear to be struggling to meet the increasing needs.

God’s Child Project is one of 11 international partners in hurricane-prone areas to receive a Direct Relief preparedness module at the beginning of hurricane season, June 1. These emergency modules are versatile enough for any disaster and have been previously used to respond to flooding and the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.

God’s Child Project is a Guatemalan non-profit organization that provides clinical services to over 2,700 medically underserved children and adults per month. They provide these services through their clinic located on their site in Antigua and also work closely with the Guatemalan Public Health Care System and other international organizations.

Their mission is to provide health care education and empowerment to underserved families, widows, abandoned and abused women, and single mothers. These critical services are temporarily set aside in cases of local disasters as the staff focuses on more pressing emergency relief activities.

Direct Relief will continue to be in touch with partners on the ground in Guatemala as they assess their medical needs. Click to donate to emergency preparedness and response initiatives.

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