A new contingent of healthcare professionals from the Community of Madrid's Emergency Medical Service (SUMMA 112) has departed today for Venezuela. These seven professionals are part of the START team from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and their mission is to collaborate in rescue and assistance tasks following the earthquakes that occurred last week.
The deployed team consists of two doctors, two nurses, and three Emergency Medical Technicians (TES). They join other professionals from various autonomous communities, selected for their specialized healthcare areas. Specifically, from SUMMA 112, a medical emergency doctor, a pediatrician, two emergency nurses, and three TES with healthcare logistics functions are traveling.
These professionals will deploy an healthcare infrastructure equivalent to a Primary Care center on the ground to address emergencies and health issues of the population affected by the seismic events. They join the six members of the Immediate Response Team of the Community of Madrid (ERICAM)'s Health Intervention Team (EIS) who have already been working in the area since last Friday.
Unlike the first intervention and rescue tasks performed by ERICAM, the volunteers joining START are second-intervention teams. Their objective is to mitigate the deficiencies in infrastructure and healthcare resulting from the catastrophe.
The estimated duration of their operation in the area is approximately one month, for which the professionals are traveling with all necessary equipment to work autonomously. A second rotation of professionals is scheduled to depart for the South American country on July 12th, before the return of this first contingent.
