Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

After traveling thousands of kilometres on airplanes, the second Tzu Chi Relief and Medical team arrived in Kathmandu at 1 A.M. on May 2. They joined the first group. At six in the morning, the doctors got up and prepared to set up medical posts at three locations in Bhaktapur, one of the areas most badly hit by the devastating earthquake in Nepal. They are providing both surgical and internal medicine treatment at the stations. In particular, the doctors plan to perform surgery on as many as 200 patients who have suffered bone fracture, at the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital.

On April 28, the first Tzu Chi Relief and Medical Team arrived in Nepal, bringing one tonne of medical materials, enough for 1,000 patients. On April 29, the team successfully obtained permission to perform medical services from the Ministry of Health and Population. Immediately they started care and medical operations. In the past few days, Dr. Chien Sou-hsin and Dr. Chao You-chen, superintendents of the Taichung and Taipei Tzu Chi Hospitals respectively, started their first clinic service – in tents. With just two classroom tables and chairs, they cleaned lesions and sewed wounds of the quake victims.

Noticing that a great number of victims suffer from bone fractures, Dr. Chao sent X-ray images of them through LINE back to doctors at the Taiwan Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, so that they could prepare the needed materials for bone surgery. The second Relief and Medical Team brought these materials with them. It consists of four orthopaedic doctors -- Dr. Chien Jui-teng, assistant superintendent of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, and Dr. Pan Yung-Chien, superintendent of Guanshan Tzu Chi Hospital, as well as Dr. Tseng Hsiao-tsu, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, and Dr. Liu Kuan-lin, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital. There is also an anesthetist, Dr. Lin Chang-hung from Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital.

By the time the second team arrived in Nepal, it was already an hour past midnight on May 2. Yet, at 6 am, the team was ready and set off immediately to three locations in Bhaktapur -- the Bhaktapur Hospital Emergency Block, the Bhaktapur Hospital and the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. They began their service at 7 am. Dr. Chien Jui-teng led the group at the cancer hospital; having brought with them bone surgical equipment like manual bone drillers, 60 bone plates, 760 medical screws and other medical materials, they operated tirelessly from eight in the morning until eight in the evening. Knowing that there are as many as 200 bone fracture victims in the vicinity in urgent need of surgery, all the doctors put their heart into the work, hoping to ease the pain that has tormented the victims these past days.

At the same time, the relief team is exploring the option of purchasing relief goods from local sources. In addition, the "humanitarian relief" chartered plane provided by the Indonesian military that carried instant rice, tents and foldable beds has arrived in Nepal. The team is looking for suitable locations to hold the relief distributions as well as what materials the people need.

By Tzu Chi Foundation, 2015/05/02