In the aftermath of Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit), the Department of Health has turned down the services Mammoth Medical Missions; a US-based emergency response which has offered to assist in rescue efforts.
The group issued a statement, through its founder and CEO Dr. Michael Karch, in which it said: “Approximately midday local time, the Philippine Department of Health announced that the services of Foreign Medical Teams such as ours were no longer needed to assist in the rescue effort.”
“Ultimately, what rescue and relief organizations hope for is that their services are not needed thus indicating that people they are serving are safe. Although our surgical services were not needed, our ability to mobilize a team and rapidly deploy proved readiness at every level of our organization,” the statement added.
Karch went on to praise the Philippine government, military, and civilians for what he called “great preemptive strides with regards to mass evacuations of the civilian population before the storm.”
“This effort to move one million people could possibly represent a paradigm shift in the management of disaster preparedness and may serve as a valuable lesson for populations exposed to Typhoon and cyclonic events,” he noted.
Mammoth Medical Missions was involved in the relief and rescue efforts following Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013.