With more than 100 hospitals and clinics damaged due to the storm, volunteer doctors are bringing care to the community.
By Lara Cooper/Direct Relief. Originally published on October 30, 2023 by Direct Relief. Photos courtesy of Medical Impact.
After last week’s rapidly intensifying Category 5 storm inundated Mexico’s west coast, many areas still lack power and communication in the Acapulco area, where historic Hurricane Otis made landfall.
The storm’s death toll has risen to 45 people, and 47 people are still missing, according to Evelyn Salgado, Guerrero state governor. She added that about 274,000 homes throughout the region had been destroyed from the storm’s high winds and flood surges. Clean water shortages and a dwindling food supply are also impacting the region.
More than 100 hospitals and clinics have been damaged, and medical care is scarce.
Direct Relief issued $200,000 in financial support last week, including to groups responding in Guerrero with emergency health services.
Medical Impact, an organization that Direct Relief supported last week with a $25,000 emergency operating grant, deployed 12 doctors to Acapulco to provide medical care in the area. Field medic packs for triage care outside clinic walls and an emergency health kit, which contains medical essentials commonly requested after disasters, are outfitting the medical providers during their trip.
The week before Hurricane Otis made landfall, Direct Relief had shipped requested medical essentials, including medications for chronic disease management such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma, as well as first aid items for wound care and other medical needs.
Direct Relief is also coordinating with the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, or IMSS, one of the largest providers of healthcare in the country, and has shared a list of available medications.
Direct Relief will continue to respond to Hurricane Otis throughout the coming days.
