Comox paramedic Ryan Thorburn is among the members of a medical assistance team that flew Sunday to Tokyo to see how Canadians can help the Japanese people following last week's devastating earthquake.
Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) deployed its rapid disaster assessment team to Sendai, Japan, Sunday morning from Vancouver. The group arrived in Tokyo on Monday.
Thorburn is joined on CMAT's Rapid Assessment Team by team leader David Johnson from Vancouver; Kelly Kaley, an advanced care paramedic from Squamish; Kevin Sanford, a primary care paramedic from New Westminster; and Caris Reid, a photojournalist from Toronto.
The team will conduct a needs assessment in the Miyagi Prefecture around the city of Sendai to ascertain the level of devastation caused by the powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami — the fourth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and the largest in Japan since modern instrumental recordings began 130 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The team will assess and prepare for the arrival of the CMAT inflatable field hospital, medical supplies and volunteer personnel, according to CMAT.
Thorburn is expected to return March 27, according to his wife, Janice. Thorburn volunteered with CMAT before, working in Haiti last year.
"He just likes to try to help people and move them from areas that maybe proper medical care can't get to where hospitals are," said Janice. "He likes to help people; he likes to make a difference."
Thorburn, a paramedic for seven years, used to be a volunteer firefighter.
"That's sort of where his heart is, helping people," said Janice. "It's a fabulous feeling to know our family can contribute to society this way, but it's still scary."
Comox paramedic Bill Coltart, CMAT's national medical response co-ordinator, spoke to Thorburn on Monday night.
"They're currently at the United Nations on-site operations and co-operation centre trying to facilitate air transport into the field," he said. "The plan at this point is to support any needs the Japanese government and the Japanese people have."
Those needs could include anything from evacuating people into tertiary care centres to supporting urban search and rescue with medical support, explained Coltart.
"It's quite a mess over there," he said. "Depending on the reports, we'll send the appropriate resources, as far as equipment and personnel go. Every disaster is different."
As of Tuesday evening — Japan time — all NGO airlift support had been temporarily suspended pending the further assessment of the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, following an explosion at the plant, according to the CMAT blog.
"The team is currently more than 250 kilometres away, and evacuation plans are being put into place in the event they need a timely departure from the area," it stated.
CMAT is urgently appealing to the public to support the team in its efforts to help the Japanese people.
Coltart says cash donations are most helpful, as CMAT is raising money for a Nomad water purification system, which will provide 100 litres a minute of clean drinking water from any freshwater source.
"You could actually provide enough water for a good-sized village at 100 litres a minute," noted Coltart.
For more information about supporting CMAT or to read the CMAT blog, visit www.canadianmedicalteams.org or look for CMAT on Facebook and Twitter.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com