Global Rescue Surge Intensifies as UN Mobilizes International Teams to Venezuela Quake Zone
Geneva-International search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries are being deployed to Venezuela following twin earthquakes that have killed at least 235 people, as the United Nations on Friday described the rapid international response as the immediate priority in efforts to locate survivors beneath collapsed buildings.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 25 specialized teams, including 17 national urban search and rescue units and emergency medical response teams comprising around 1,000 personnel, were being mobilized to support Venezuelan authorities in the aftermath of the 7.5- and 7.2-magnitude earthquakes that struck on Wednesday.
“Getting those search and rescue teams to the scene is the top priority,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva, describing earthquakes as among the most destructive disasters countries can face. He said the humanitarian system was responding rapidly and at scale as international assistance gathered pace.
Search and rescue personnel from Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland and the United States have already arrived in Venezuela, while additional teams from Britain, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Jordan, the Netherlands, Qatar and Spain are being mobilized, according to OCHA.
The World Health Organization said the immediate operational focus remains mass casualty management and emergency trauma care, particularly in areas where buildings have collapsed and access to medical services has been disrupted.
“The overriding priority is to rescue as many people as possible while urgently providing life-saving health care to the injured,” Ciro Ugarte, emergencies director at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said from Washington. He warned that casualty figures were expected to rise as rescue operations continued during the critical first 72 hours after the disaster.
Ugarte said the earthquakes had struck a health system that was already under strain, although more than 15 health ministries across the region had pledged support and stood ready to deploy medical personnel and technical assistance.
PAHO experts are assessing damage to healthcare infrastructure and have identified more than 90 hospitals exposed to shaking intensities exceeding six and seven on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. Assessments are focusing on structural safety, emergency department capacity, operating theatres, inpatient beds, blood supplies and oxygen availability.
Hospitals in affected areas are treating patients with fractures, head trauma, burns and other injuries associated with building collapses as emergency responders continue rescue operations across the disaster zone.
