When our Samaritan’s Purse team arrived in Myanmar after the catastrophic March 28 earthquake, they found a gymnasium full of badly injured people who desperately needed medical treatment after being rescued from the rubble.
Even while the team was setting up our field hospital, our doctors and nurses began performing emergency surgeries to save lives and limbs in a makeshift operating room set up in a converted shipping container. One of our patients was a mother named Su, who had been trapped with her two sons in the ruins of their four-story apartment building. She lay there with her arm crushed until her husband arrived from across town with a powerful jack to create an escape route.
After receiving first aid, she waited on a cot in the gym for the specialized medical care she needed. She was among our first patients and is now recovering after surgery.
The earthquake killed thousands of people, injured many more, and left families with nowhere to live. Samaritan’s Purse flew two cargo jets halfway around the world to airlift the field hospital along with emergency supplies such as tarps, water filters, solar lights, and blankets. We also deployed medical staff that we have trained to respond to emergencies of this scale.
Our 60-bed field hospital is now up and running in a stadium in the capital city of Naypyidaw. We are seeing more than 150 patients a day, including many who need immediate surgery. Our facility includes three operating rooms, an emergency room, inpatient wards, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. Around 100 staffers—doctors, nurses, water specialists, technicians, and others—are working around the clock to bring medical care to the suffering.
Myint’s leg was broken by falling debris during the initial moments of the earthquake. Her husband acted quickly and saved her life by carrying her out of their home as it collapsed around them. “I thought we were going to die together in our living room,” she said. They went to the local hospital where they cleaned some of her minor wounds, but there weren’t enough doctors to perform surgery on her fracture. So, she was brought to our field hospital where our surgeons successfully operated on her leg. “I am very happy that I can finally get treatment, and I feel so much better knowing that my life will go back to normal soon,” she said.
Working in earthquake zones around the world, we’ve seen that contaminated water can cause secondary epidemics and cost many lives. Our airlift included six community water filtration units as well as hygiene kits to maintain safe sanitation. These portable water filters are designed to be easily transported to where they are needed most. We have the capacity to provide 20,000 people with three gallons per day.
The ground continues to rumble in parts of Myanmar, and many are afraid, as well as in pain. Our patients and their families are grateful for the medical services and Christian care we are providing. “God can turn despair to hope. And that is a big part of why we’re here,” said Dr. Doug Nottebrock.
Just a few days after the hospital opened, appreciative local residents presented our field hospital staff with bundles of blooming yellow flowers called padauk. They know we’ve come to help in Jesus’ Name, and many folks have asked our team to pray for them. We thank God for opening doors for us to work in this predominantly Buddhist nation!
Samaritan’s Purse has over 40 years of history working in Myanmar, including disaster relief after Cyclone Nargis in 2008. I was able to preach there in 2016, and more than 170,000 people attended that festival in Yangon. Please pray for the suffering people of Myanmar and for our teams as we respond to bring help in Jesus’ Name. As the Lord has said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
