Calgary doctor, medical team scrambles to get into Nepal

It’s a race against time for a four-person Canadian medical team, including a Calgary doctor, as they try to get on the ground in disaster-stricken Nepal.

As of Monday, the death toll was over 4,000 following the weekend’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

As the death toll increases, so does the call for help.

The Canadian Medical Assistance Teams has dispatched a team including a Calgary doctor, an Edmonton doctor and an Edmonton paramedic, which left Sunday night.

CMAT spokesperson Dr. Rashad Chin said the group has nowhere to go after landing in Hong Kong as all non-essential flights into Nepal have been suspended.

“It seems to be that Katmandu airport is functioning, but has been intermittently closed and only open to government and military aircrafts, so we’ve been going through different channels in order to get there,” he said.

The non-profit has gotten some financial support with flights, but it is still not clear when the team arrive.

“Hopefully we’ll get to the ground, which is something that we’re very proud of,” Chin said. “Our team’s been working around the clock here, with all the logistics and planning and my phone has been off the hook.”

When the team does arrive, they will work with the United Nations to assess damaged areas and coordinate where more response teams will go.

CMAT is also sending a B.C. search and rescue team, including a canine unit.

CMAT officials have worked in regions following similar disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the Bangladesh tsunami.

The team headed to Nepal includes:

Calgary Dr. Don Bethune
Edmonton Dr. San Agustin
Edmonton Paramedic Michael Parker
London nurse Brandon Duncan

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