How we support those on the frontline
Have you ever thought what it takes to be on the front line?
Imagine yourself…
- Living in an insecure environment with constant security threats?
- Facing a daily risk of malaria?
- Constantly battling diarrhoea because of poor hygiene and contaminated water?
- Working every day with people who have faced significant loss, violence & trauma, or who face a daily struggle against poverty?
It is easy to miss how much goes into effective international work. When the 2004 tsunami hit in parts of Asia, or when the Haiti earthquake struck in 2010, did you ever consider what it would take to be on the frontline?
Have you ever thought what it would be like to work with HIV positive children in Zimbabwe, or with women in Afghanistan who have very limited access to opportunities?
We believe that every person working to make a difference has the right to be supported to be healthy in their roles, and be equipped to reduce the risks of avoidable illness.
Our clinical teams understand what it means to work on the front line and are uniquely placed to connect with the individual needs of those working to make a difference. Our clinicians have worked all over the world and have rich collective expertise in travel medicine and the psychological health of international workers.
How we made a difference – the Haiti story
On Tuesday 12 January, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, the epicenter just 15 miles away from the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince. Shocking scenes hit our news channels as the devastation was revealed. Over 220,000 people were killed in the earthquake, hundreds of thousands injured and a further 1.5 million left homeless. In a country where 70% of the population lives on less than $2 per day, a rapid and effective humanitarian response was critical.
Over $4 billion was raised for relief efforts and thousands of charities, NGOs and faith based organizations coordinated people and resources to rescue the buried, treat the injured and provide food, water and shelter.
But what role did InterHealth play?
In the Haiti response, the humanitarian aid worker faced tremendous physical and psychological challenges every moment. The average aid worker would have worked intensively, 20 hours per day for several weeks, facing countless scenes of human loss and helplessness, not to mention security risks. In these situations, aid and mission workers need to be physically fit, psychologically robust and equipped with the knowledge and resources they need to make sure they stay healthy and ultimately focused on the task ahead.
During 2010, InterHealth clinicians have provided over 558 consultations to individuals going to make a difference in Haiti, supporting their physical and psychological wellbeing, before, during and after their assignments;
What we did;
Our travel medicine doctors supported those going to Haiti to ensure they were physically well and able to manage pre-existing health conditions in a way that wouldn’t put them at greater risk, or inhibit their work on the field.
Our experienced travel health nurses educated aid workers about how to stay healthy on the field, reducing the risks of avoidable illnesses including malaria, cholera and diarrhoea. They also equipped them with the vaccinations, travel medicines and supplies they needed to stay healthy on the field.
Our supportive psychosocial professionals helped returning workers process their experiences and emotions, coming to terms with the challenges they faced, the impact it had and how they move on in the future. They also supported those who had experienced significant loss, including the loss of their own team members.
