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Local emergency medical team stands ready to roll

The medical team: service home and abroad * The national emergency response medical team has a history of four years. * It was established after the 921 earthquake. * On Oct. 31, 2000, it was called into service to help the victims of the Singapore Airlines crash. * The team has 1,800 active members and a host of volunteers. * When an earthquake of 7.6 on the Richter scale hit El Salvador in January 2001, the team was airlifted to assist. * The team is self-sufficient.

A national emergency response medical team has been in place for the past four years and can set up within six hours of a disaster and operate for three days without electricity, water or other outside supplies, the Department of Health said yesterday.

Officials said the emergency medical team was established after the earthquake that hit Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999, and left more than 2,400 people dead and many injured.

There are two regional centers for the emergency medical team. The northern center is located in Taipei at National Taiwan University Hospital, and the southern center is in Tainan at National Cheng Kung University Hospital, the officials said.

The main purpose of the team is to provide assistance to traditional medical facilities in providing disaster relief.

The team was called to the site of the Singapore Airlines plane crash on Oct. 31, 2000, after the aircraft tried to take off from the wrong runway during stormy weather and hit parked construction equipment. Team officials determined at the scene that local establishments were sufficient and the response mechanism was not activated. Eighty-three of the 179 passengers and crew perished.

The team was also at the ready after an earthquake that registered 7.6 on the Richter scale hit El Salvador in January 2001, officials said.

The team is able to arrive at the scene of a disaster and start medical treatment -- including surgery -- within six hours of an incident. The team can be self-sufficient for three days without outside water, electricity or food.

The team is prepared for life-saving care, outdoor treatment of the injured, replacement or reinforcement of grassroots medical institutions, public health and environment monitoring, and identifying the cause of death and body identification.

The team currently has 1,800 members. The team also has volunteers from all walks of life who receive training in emergency treatment and logistics.
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