A day after opening, the Cuban field hospital set up in Ixtepec, Oaxaca state, was filled with people, many of whom were affected by the earthquakes which struck the country this September.
This according to Dr. Rolando Piloto, head of the 40-member Cuban medical brigade – which includes healthcare professionals with experience tackling natural disasters in other countries – speaking to Prensa Latina.
Piloto noted that the hospital – sent by Cuban authorities, alongside over 10 tons of equipment, medicines and supplies – was inaugurated during a brief ceremony on October 4.
The Cuban doctor also noted that despite rain on the day, hundreds of people came to the center to be treated.
The hospital, set up in the grounds of the Ixtepec sports stadium, offers consolations across general family medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, orthopedics and traumatology, surgery and neurosurgery, 24 hours a day.
It also provides X-ray, psychology, psychiatry, physical rehabilitation and laboratory-clinical services, reported Piloto.
On arrival in Mexico the Cuban brigade got straight to work, offering services at military hospitals and a facility in Tehuantepec, where they gave consultations and conducted ultrasound and surgical procedures.
They also treated about 150 patients from various countries across Central America at a migrant’s center.
The Cuban doctors form part of the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disasters and Serious Epidemics, which has undertaken 27 missions in 19 countries.
On September 7, a category 8.2 earthquake struck Mexico, primarily affecting the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco, and killing 90 people.
To these victims must be added the other 360 fatalities reported to date following a second 7.2 magnitude quake on September 19 in Mexico City and the states of Morelos, Puebla, México, Guerrero and Oaxaca.
(With information from Prensa Latina)