NYCMedics provides immediate disaster aid and long-term infrastructure support to bring emergency healthcare to all corners of the world. By sending medical professionals to remote areas of the world in the wake of natural disasters, NYCMedics can give on-the-ground care to those in need and help communities build better healthcare systems. Learn more about their relief efforts here!
What is the story behind NYCMedics?
In October 2005, an earthquake hit northern Pakistan that killed 75,000 people and left over a million homeless. A group of medical professionals at St. Claire’s Hospital in Manhattan decided to answer the U.N. Secretary General’s call for help, and were dropped off in Pakistan days later. From that mission, NYCMedics was born. Our target areas are disaster response, health systems development, and global aid initiatives in remote areas. Over the years, we’ve evolved from sending emergency medical teams into natural disaster areas to setting up infrastructures in humanitarian crises. What we care about most is saving lives when no one else can get there.
What kind of disaster relief do you provide?
NYCMedics rapidly deploys emergency medical teams that provide the highest level of care to people who would otherwise not have access to relief efforts. Our Mobile Medical Teams work in mobile medical clinics that can reach remote areas. These teams are made up of board certified, licensed doctors, nurses, paramedics, and physician assistants. They’re self-sufficient and can operate independently in remote areas with a two-week supply of medicine, supplies, food, and other necessities. We get boots on the ground in the hours after a disaster, confirm what medical care is needed, and make those resources available.
What do your long-term efforts entail?
Building infrastructure is necessary to equip communities with the skills and knowledge they need to set up prehospital and emergency medical services. We provide adaptable global health programming to address gaps in ongoing humanitarian efforts, and partner with local nonprofits to lend our expertise and resources to assist vulnerable populations isolated by geographical and economic barriers. We help these organizations and governments create regulatory framework, infrastructure, curricula, and standards development in prehospital care. Then, we build their workforce capacity through clinical services implementation and eventually scale up.
Can you tell me about the people you serve?
We’ve cared for 38,000 patients in places like Iraq, Malawi, Pakistan, Nepal, Vanuatu, Dominica, Japan, and Haiti. Our medical teams help survivors of hurricanes, earthquakes, cyclones, extreme poverty, and more. We’ve helped local populations in Kenya expand their healthcare options, provided functioning medical services in rural El Salvador, and rebuilt hospital infrastructure systems following a typhoon in The Philippines.
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