Emergency USA
EMERGENCY USA is a USA based organization devoted to the promotion of a culture of solidarity, peace and respect for human rights.
EMERGENCY USA provides support to projects that offer free, high quality medical and surgical treatment for the victims of war and poverty.
News
FRANCESCO AZZARÀ IS FREE
Today, at 4 PM, we received confirmation that Francesco Azzarà was released.
Francesco had been kidnapped on 14th of August in Nyala, South Darfur, where he was working as a logistician at EMERGENCY Ngo's Paediatric centre.This is a joyful day for EMERGENCY. We want to share our happiness with Francesco, with his family who has shown a strong will and great trust in our work and the Sudanese authorities' work during the last 124 days, as well as with everyone - citizens and institutions - who expressed their solidarity to Francesco, his family and EMERGENCY's work.
EMERGENCY wants to thank the Sudanese authorities who worked for Francesco's release. In this moment of relief, EMERGENCY Ngo thinks of all the people - from Italy or other countries - still held hostage.
EMERGENCY
Milan, 16th December
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EMERGENCY USA's Shipment of Medical Supplies Arrives in Kabul
A successful finale for the Bridging the Miles to Afghanistan Campaign
August 23rd, 2011: Cause for celebration! The EMERGENCY USA shipment of medical supplies has arrived at the EMERGENCY Surgical Center in Kabul, Afghanistan. The container has completely cleared customs in Afghanistan, and the supplies are currently being put to use in the Kabul Surgical Center and distributed to the other EMERGENCY Hospitals in Anabah and Lashkar-gah, as well as its First Aid Posts, and the Anabah Maternity Hospital.
The vision of the Bridging the Miles to Afghanistan campaign will be brought to reality as these supplies and equipment in the hands of the clinical personnel, doctors, nurses of the EMERGENCY programs, reach the patients who are treated there.
Our heartfelt appreciation to the volunteers, supporters, donors and to our partners at MedShare International.
The shipping container arrives at the EMERGENCY Surgical Center in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The Patients and Staff of the EMERGENCY Hospital in Kabul pause for a photograph as the container is opened.
One more photo as the shipping container is unloaded and the supplies and equipment prepared for use: providing high-standard, medical, surgical, and rehabilitative care for civilian victims of war.
EMERGENCY aid worker kidnapped in Sudan
Thursday, August 18th: Four days after the kidnapping of EMERGENCY employee Francesco Azzarà in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the act nor asked for a ransom. Inaccurate reports to the contrary were released by some Italian newspapers on Wednesday.
Francesco, a logistician of the EMERGENCY Paediatric centre in Nyala, was taken on the 14th of August in the afternoon, while he was in a car heading for the city’s airport.
EMERGENCY continues to follow developments in the situation and is working for the release of Francesco, in close cooperation with Sudanese authorities and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
EMERGENCY is asking for immediate release of Francesco Azzarà and remains open to collaborating with all who are able to contribute toward a positive solution of this matter as soon as possible.
Sunday August 14th, 2011: at 5:00 PM local time, an EMERGENCY aid worker was kidnapped by unknown people in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, while he was in a car traveling to the city's airport.
Francesco Azzarà, age 34, was working on his second mission as a logistician at the EMERGENCY Pediatric Center in Nyala, which originally opened in July 2010.
EMERGENCY immediately activated by informing its contacts in Darfur and Khartoum in addition to bringing the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs up to date. An EMERGENCY team is following the developments of the situation, remaining in constant contact with Azzarà's family as well as the Sudanese and Italian authorities.
EMERGENCY asks for the immediate release of Francesco Azzarà and seeks support from everyone able to contribute toward a positive solution of this matter as soon as possible.
June 30, 2011: For Immediate Release
Milan, Italy - June 30, 2011
EMERGENCY’S INTERVENTION IN MISURATA IS FINISHED
A team from EMERGENCY - composed of a surgeon, an anaesthetist, three nurses and a logistician – have been in Misurata since May 12 by request of the local health authorities to start up the activities of the Zarrok Field Hospital.
After having organized the structure: a camp hospital endowed with an emergency department, an operating theater, a 50 bed in-patient unit, 1 intensive care unit ward, laboratories and an X-ray room, EMERGENCY has been training the local staff in basic nursing service.
There is an extreme shortage of expert nurses in Misurata, and the ones that were there were mainly foreigners who went back to their home country when the war started.
The clinical activities started on May 26, and, since then, EMERGENCY’s team has assisted more than 260 people, mainly war victims, being in-patients or first aid emergencies.
After starting up the hospital, EMERGENCY’s team finished, on June 21, its second mission in Misurata, in accordance with the local health authorities.
EMERGENCY’s first intervention started on April 10 at the Hikmat hospital, during the most dramatic days of the siege of Misurata. It ended on April 25, when the hospital’s healthcare supervision committee gave the order to evacuate because the minimum safety conditions for both patients and humanitarian operators couldn’t be guaranteed.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
June 7, 2011: For Immediate Release
Milan, Italy - June 7, 2011
An EMERGENCY team is back in Misurata, Libya
On May 12th, an EMERGENCY team returned to Misurata. The team is composed of a surgeon, an anesthetist, three nurses--one of which is for the operating theater--and a logistician. All are working at the Zarrok Field Hospital, a camp hospital with an emergency department, an operating theater, a fifty-bed in-patients' ward, two intensive care unit beds, laboratories and an X-ray room.
EMERGENCY directly manages the hospital, which includes thirty local doctors and nurses. The clinical activities started on May 28th, after a period dedicated to organizing and training the national staff. EMERGENCY's team guarantees assistance to the war victims and training of the local staff in collaboration with other health facilities in Misurata.
Mohammad is among the first in-patients. He was injured in both of his feet in Dafnia, a city where fighting is still going on, about 40 kilometers from the hospital. Essam, 25 years, has deep wounds in his right knee, thigh and forearm. Alfatori has fragment injuries in his arm, left hand and on his side.
The situation in Misurata is in continual evolution and EMERGENCY is investigating possible developments of its intervention on the basis of the new needs of the population.
EMERGENCY's original medical team had to leave Misurata on April 25th, when the hospital in which they had been working since April 10th had become a target of the fighting and safety conditions for both patients and humanitarian operators couldn't be guaranteed.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
April 25, 2011: For Immediate Release
Milan, Italy - April 25, 2011
Bombs Don't Protect Civilians, the Massacre Continues in Misurata, EMERGENCY is Forced to Leave the Country
Bombs can never protect civilians: sure enough they haven't proved effective in protecting the population of Misurata. The city, under siege and bombed for more than two months, went through heavy attacks in the last 24 hours that have flattened highly populated neighborhoods, this is also due to the use of medium-range ballistic missiles.
Once again the fighting is at the civilian population's own expense. On Saturday and Sunday, 200 injured and more than 60 dead reached the hospital of Hikmat, where the surgical team of EMERGENCY has been working since April 10th.
Heavy fighting has drawn close to the hospital in the last few days. The hospital, its patients and the doctors treating them, have become a target of this war. For this reason, on Monday April 25th, the order to evacuate was received. The seven members of EMERGENCY's team are now in Malta, where they will wait until allowed to take up their humanitarian intervention in Libya again.
Misurata reveals once again the true face of war, that in which civilians and humanitarian operators are left without any form of protection.
EMERGENCY asks the United Nations to negotiate a ceasefire and to grant a humanitarian corridor to bring help to the civilian population.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
April 22, 2011
Diary from Misurata
By Antonio Molinari - EMERGENCY's logistician
The youngest victim of this conflict has arrived in the hospital today. She is 10 months old, wrapped in a blanket, she was hit by a metal splinter which fractured her humerus (upper arm bone). Luckily her condition is not serious: her shoulder is going to be put into plaster and she will be fine soon.
There is a small crowd outside the hospital office: Egyptians, Filipinos, but also Libyan people are waiting to call home. The hospital director has put an Internet point in the office at the disposal of the people living in the area to allow them to communicate with distant relatives.
Misurata is trapped in a communications black out, it has been going on for two months now, and many families beyond the border are still waiting for news.
Two injured boys reach the hospital: they are Libyan, aged 18 and 20, and they belong to Gaddafi's army. They are treated as all other injured who have arrived during these days. They are stabilized in the first aid tent and then later moved to the wards.
In this terribly brutal war, this act appears to me as a signal of civility and respect of fundamental human rights.
April 18, 2011: For Immediate Release
Milan, Italy - April 18, 2011
Stop the Massacre and Guarantee Treatment to Victims in Misurata
Since April 10, 2011 EMERGENCY's doctors and nurses are the only international team operating in Misurata, the city which has been under siege for almost two months and where there is the highest number of injured in the Libyan war.
During the last week we have witnessed an increasing massacre of civilians due to the intensification of fighting which is getting closer and closer to the area of the Hikmat hospital where we work. The situation is one of extreme danger also for our staff which might not be able to treat the injured any longer.
On April 16th only, 70 injured, hit by bombs, bullets and by a sniper positioned in the vicinity, have reached the hospital. 15 people arrived dead at the emergency unit, among which 6 children hit in the head by precision rifles.
EMERGENCY points out that "protection of civilians and civilian populated areas" are indicated as a priority in the UN Security Council Resolution n.1973 of March 17, 2011. But, despite that, there is no form of protection for the population in Misurata at present.
EMERGENCY reasserts its neutral and purely humanitarian position in the ongoing conflict and it confirms its availability, where necessary, to send a team of surgeons to treat injured also in the areas which are under the control of the government, and it has been already communicated in official form to the Libyan authorities at the beginning of the conflict.
Therefore EMERGENCY urgently asks all parts involved in the conflict to negotiate an immediate cease-fire, to respect the neutrality and inviolability of hospitals and to open a humanitarian corridor in Misurata to guarantee the possibility of timely treatment to civilians under safe conditions.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
April 17, 2011
Diary from Misurata
By Antonio Molinari - EMERGENCY's logistician
We woke up to the news that remains of cluster bombs were found in the center of Misurata.
It seems that Gaddafi's army started to throw them on some areas of the city since yesterday. This is terrible news. We know the effects of cluster bombs very well because they have been widely used in Afghanistan.
Cluster bombs, when unexploded, are like anti-personnel mines: they are like soldiers, always on the spot, waiting for somebody to step over them. We noticed an increase in blast injuries yesterday; the use of cluster could be a reason.
An ambulance arrives to the first-aid tent at 17:40 with a baby girl aged 3. Her head is pierced by a bullet.
Paolo, our anaesthetist, tries to reanimate her, but we know since the beginning that there is little hope. She dies at 18:30.
Three local nurses burst in tears: it is the umpteenth failure of a world which cannot escape the logic of war.
Many patients arrive already dead; they are recomposed and brought to the cemetery.
Everybody, relatives and other people around, start an accompaniment choir while following the coffin.
Allah akbar - God is great.
It thunders into the narrow corridors of this hospital and, inexorably, it beats the disastrous time of this war.
April 13, 2011
Diary from Misurata
Misurata, Libya April 13, 2011
By Paolo Grosso - EMERGENCY’s anesthetist
Gaddafi's troops have bombed the commercial harbour this morning. We have heard that 23 people were killed.
It is the first time that they have hit that area.
In the meanwhile we hear airplanes flying over the city and heavy bombing not far from us. Another black column of smoke rises up from the usual place: Tripoli Street.
The first injured arrive at about 10:00 AM. They will be 47 by the end of the day, of which 10 in serious conditions.
8 are dead, among which a one and a half year old baby girl.
The desperation of the relatives is excruciating.
I think of what I witnessed in Afghanistan and of the composure of the victims’ families: war has been going on there for thirty years, and sudden death due to fighting or bombing is something that is taken into account. It is terrible, but it is part of the country’s daily life.
A three-year-old girl reaches the hospital in the afternoon. She has burned herself with an electric wire. She would have been promptly operated under other circumstances, but there are other emergencies these days, so her surgery has to be put on hold.
The second floor of this hospital hosts the obstetrics and gynecology ward. Its activity has been stopped and all available spaces have been dedicated to war victims.
Nowadays, in Misurata, there is no place to be born.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
April 11, 2011: For Immediate Release
Libya: A team of EMERGENCY’s surgeons operate in Misurata
Milan, Italy - April 11, 2011
An EMERGENCY team has started working in Misurata, Libya today. They are in a hospital treating war victims, especially with those injured by bombs and bullets.
This medical team is composed of a general surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, one anesthetist, three nurses and a logistician. As far as we know, they are the only surgeons in the area who have experience in war surgery.
The hospital has five operating theaters, sixty ward beds, and seven beds in the intensive care unit. EMERGENCY’s medical team is directly managing one operating theater, an intensive care unit and a number of the ward beds.
For further information contact:
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
March 23, 2011: For Immediate Release
EMERGENCY USA: Medical Supplies Shipment to Aid Civilians in Afghanistan
Atlanta, GA – March 23, 2011
EMERGENCY USA – Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty sponsored shipment of a forty-foot container of medical supplies and equipment destined for three surgical centers, a maternity hospital, and twenty-eight first aid posts of its partner organization, EMERGENCY, an NGO operating in Afghanistan since 1999. With facilities located throughout Afghanistan, the medical programs of EMERGENCY provide free-of-charge, high-standard medical and surgical care to civilians in conflict zones worldwide.
Atlanta-based nonprofit, Medshare International, an organization that distributes donated surplus medical supplies internationally, helped coordinate today’s shipment. The container leaves Atlanta today and is expected to arrive in Kabul in mid-May. EMERGENCY USA describes this as the first of many such shipments to come.
EMERGENCY USA is a U.S. nonprofit that incorporated in 2008 to raise funds to provide permanent infrastructure for medical care, rehabilitation and relief efforts for civilian victims of war. EMERGENCY USA expresses its heartfelt gratitude to contributors to this effort. Today’s shipment was funded entirely through individual donations and support from small, locally owned businesses. The organization operates through grassroots efforts of volunteers working to increase awareness in their local communities.
EMERGENCY USA plans a second 2011 shipment of supplies and equipment to further support EMERGENCY’s programs in Afghanistan, and is currently raising funds in support of this upcoming shipment.
For further information contact:
Eric Talbert, Development Director
EMERGENCY USA-Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty
EMERGENCY USA
1016 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 211
San Francisco, CA 94129
Telephone: 1-888-501-3872
Email: info@emergencyusa.org
Link to March 24, 2011 Medshare Blog entry detailing the shipment
Link to March 23, 2011 Medshare Blog with photos of the shipment
The containter of boxes bound for Afghanistan
Warehouse staff preparing boxes for the shipment
December 21, 2010
2010 Goal Reached for Medical Shipment to Afghanistan in 2011!
Dear EMERGENCY USA Supporters,
It is with immense appreciation and celebration that we inform you that EMERGENCY USA reached its 2010 fundraising goal of $25,000 for the shipment of a container of medical supplies to equip lifesaving programs underway in Afghanistan.
It is thanks to your generous support and the ongoing direct actions of the coordinators and members of EMERGENCY USA volunteer groups throughout the country that we are able to extend this gesture of peace and solidarity to the people of Afghanistan ─ at this crucial time as civilian injuries due to war continue to escalate.
A shipment of medical consumables and equipment valued at greater than $200,000 will be ordered through MedShare International in early January and is expected to arrive in March. These supplies will be distributed to EMERGENCY's 3 Hospitals, 29 First Aid Clinics and Maternity Center located throughout Afghanistan, and will support the high-standard free of charge healthcare provided at these facilities. We will keep you posted on the container’s progress in 2011.
On behalf of the volunteers of EMERGENCY USA, thank you for your continued generosity this year. You have directly helped double our fundraising from 2009 to 2010. We are looking forward to working together towards an even more positive impact in 2011.
Thanks again for your support and happy holidays to you and yours from all of us at EMERGENCY USA!
Graziella B. Costanzo
President
EMERGENCY USA
Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty