The devastation in Nepal following the earthquake in Nepal which took place in April this year was huge. Oxfam was able to respond quickly and at scale because the agency had an earthquake contingency plan which made a massive difference. A team from Oxfam was dispatched to Nepal following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which left 18,000 people injured, 8,000 dead and 2.8 million homeless.
Disaster risk reduction is vital
Oxfam was able to mitigate the worst of the earthquake by storing sanitation equipment and water at four different locations around Kathmandu. The aid agency had crates filled with water tanks, hygiene kits, buckets and emergency toilets. This meant Oxfam was able to immediately spring into action and establish facilities and distribute materials in the many camps that came up around the city in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Following a disaster water borne disease is often rife because people lack access to clean water. Being able to offer families basic hygiene such as purification tablets and water buckets can help to prevent this.
Responding quickly and at scale
Oxfam trained hundreds of volunteers who leapt into action delivering and constructing water and sanitation equipment both in the capital city as well as the outer districts. The network meant that Oxfam was able to quickly reach thousands of people and offer the basic humanitarian aid they were desperately in need of. Many of the volunteers still turned up to help despite being personally affected by the disaster.
Oxfam worked with many other agencies including the World Health Organisation to help make the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu the most earthquake resilient in Nepal. Dr Pradeep Vaidya said hospital staff were able to treat the injured within 20 minutes of the first earthquake and explained how.
“Our staff were all fully trained as to how the hospital would operate in such an emergency. We had a disaster plan and everyone knew how the hospital would be divided up to treat casualties. We had containers onsite filled with extra emergency supplies and this was vital to ensure we could treat everybody. Oxfam installed an earthquake proof water borehole which meant if our water supply had been disrupted, we could still operate. Our supply wasn’t damaged, but this meant we didn’t need to take any of the emergency water being trucked and freed it up for other hospitals who did.”
Planning is crucial
It’s been five months since the earthquake and reconstruction and recovery continues. Oxfam continues to stress how important it is for the government with the assistance of donors construct local, district and national capacity for disaster risk reduction. Oxfam’s experience Nepal is a great example of the difference planning can make
