Team of Argentine volunteers to Colombia-Venezuela border
A team of volunteers, comprising medical doctors and primary healthcare specialists, travelled from Ezeiza on Saturday 23 June to the border between Colombia and Venezuela, under the coordination of the White Helmets Commission of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to assist Venezuelan migrants that left their country as a consequence of the serious political-institutional situation.
Argentina's medical assistance will be channelled through Medical Response Units (URSA), made up of Argentine teams of volunteer healthcare experts, who will treat patients in a camp located in Cúcuta, Department of Norte de Santander, at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge Station, in order to help deal with the current humanitarian crisis at that border point.
With a daily demand of 200 patients, these teams will be able to treat approximately 3 patients an hour per doctor and, potentially, deal with higher attendance peaks together with the help of nursing staff.
The service will include general medical assistance; specialties such as pediatrics, gynaecology, cardiology, psychology and complementary services such as clinical analysis, diagnostic imaging, ultrasonography and medicine supply. The URSA will treat pregnant and nursing women, as well as children under the age of 17, and will extend medical assistance to other diseases such as HIV, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
The teams will work with a gender perspective and with medical supplies donated by private sector partners of White Helmets. The URSA Team will comprise, among others: B´Nai B´rith International; OSDE -the first medical assistance network in Argentina; CEMIC -Centre of Medical Education and Clinical Research in Argentina; ALAMI -Latin American Association of Private Health Systems; and CSIS -Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The first team, which will work in Cúcuta until 7 July, will consist of 1 coordinator physician, 2 paediatricians, 2 obstetrics and gynaecology specialists skilled in the use of medical ultrasound, 1 psychologist, 1 nurse, 1 team coordinator and Head of logistics, and 1 logistics expert.
The White Helmets' health centre for the provision of medical assistance will consist of a 50-square-meter structure and another three 16-square-meter structures, each comprised of several consulting rooms, emergency and rehydration rooms, a nursery, a doctor's surgery and an administrative office.
The URSA team will work in a coordinated effort with the Colombian Ministry of Health (MSC), which is expected to provide mobile health clinics, a clinical analysis laboratory and other low to medium complexity diagnostic procedures.
Patient population, their pathologies and prescribed treatments will be recorded. For that purpose, template health records of the Colombian health authority will be used. The MSC will provide an additional vaccination centre to the Argentine team, and will inform the prevalence of patient and disease types with a view to tailoring the team to meet patient demand and setting up a drug stock geared to actual needs.
This medical assistance strategy was developed in a coordinated effort between the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection.
FOTOS:
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VIDEO:
*Cascos Blancos cargan materiales e insumos médicos, antes de partir a Colombia
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