SEPANG: Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake, Mercy Malaysia was already in Nepal and getting its mobile hospital up and running in less than 24 hours.

Mercy Malaysia vice-president Dr Heng Aik Cheng said local health ministry officials were surprised to see them all ready to spring into action last Tuesday when other organisations were still assessing the situation.

Prior to that, Dr Heng and his team of 27 personnel had to spend 18 hours on the tarmac of the airport in Calcutta, India, before their aircraft was cleared to land in Kathmandu.

By Wednesday, the group was receiving its first patients at the field hospital it set up at a school in Ipatole, Sankhu, 15km north-east of the capital.

“The earthquake was one of the most severe ever experienced and with Kathmandu full of old buildings in a mud zone, we expected a lot of damage and dead people,” said the orthopaedic surgeon and traumatologist who is based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

One of the key personnel behind the disaster management team, Dr Heng was addressing Malaysian media at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early yesterday upon his return after a week-long stint in Nepal.

“The mobile hospital is equipped with outpatient and emergency departments with a ward capacity for 20 patients, an operating facility, a clinical psychologist and psychosocial unit, and a special tent for homeless children,” he said.

With the death toll climbing to over 7,000, Dr Heng’s team was treating about 250 patients a day.

Looking tired but in good spirits, Dr Heng hailed his team of medical personnel who had to contend with uncomfortable conditions without electricity, water, proper sanitation and food.

“Nepal has a hilly landscape and the only reasonably flat place for us to settle in was that old school,” said Dr Heng, who has been on more than 10 Mercy Malaysia natural disaster missions.

“We will be there for as long as required.”

He added that distribution of goods was difficult as roads were filled with rubble following the mass destruction.

To donate to Mercy Malaysia, the account numbers are Maybank: Mercy Humanitarian Fund (5621-7950-4126); CIMB Bank: Mercy Malaysia (8000-7929-08); RHB Bank: Malaysian Medical Relief Society (212273-0000-9257); and Bank Islam: Malaysian Medical Relief Society (1211-3010-028032).

For more information, call 03-2142 2005/7 or 03-2142 2701/5.-thestar