Samaritan’s Purse opens field hospital for Venezuela earthquake victims

The North Carolina-based ministry on Tuesday began treating patients at its newly opened emergency field hospital in La Guaira, Venezuela, about a week after back-to-back earthquakes devastated the region. The twin quakes killed over 1,700 people while rescue workers continue to search for the nearly 50,000 people still missing.

The Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospital included two operating rooms and 56 patient beds, along with a critical care unit, a pharmacy, and a laboratory, according to a Tuesday statement. Samaritan’s Purse will be able to give lifesaving surgery and medical care while reminding families that God loves them, according to Franklin Graham, the ministry’s president. Hundreds of buildings have collapsed, thousands more are damaged, and the death toll will continue to rise, Graham added.

The international ministry opened the field hospital after supplies, including solar lights and building materials, were delivered by the ministry’s 767 cargo plane. Samaritan’s Purse also planned to mount two desalinization units near the quakes’ epicenters, with each expected to produce 400 gallons of clean drinking water per hour, according to a separate Wednesday statement from the ministry.

What other relief efforts are underway? The U.S. State Department and the Israel Defense Forces released statements on Wednesday about their countries’ continued support and humanitarian response for Venezuela a week after the disaster. The U.S. military deployed soldiers to Panama to organize and transport earthquake supplies, U.S. Southern Command reported on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom also vowed to match up to about $2.7 million in humanitarian donations to Venezuela, according to a Wednesday update. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association also pledged a joint $1 million Red Cross donation for Venezuelan relief. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin also dispatched C-130 Hercules aircraft to deliver critical humanitarian supplies, according to a Wednesday statement.