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The tsunami in East Asia almost a year ago and the record hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico this summer and fall have overtaxed limited Emergency Medicine resources for disaster response throughout the world. But BWH's Department of Emergency Medicine continues to be among the world's leaders in disaster relief as Stephanie Rosborough, MD, a senior fellow in the International Institute for Emergency Medicine and Health (IEMH), last week deployed to bring care to victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.
“Our entire department pulls together to help those in need wherever they may be while colleagues cover shifts at home,” Rosborough said before her month-long deployment with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Rosborough said she really wants to help villagers because of the dire need for care and supplies. About 60 to 90 percent of dwellings were destroyed in the quake, the death toll is well over 50,000 and the region's severe winter season is weeks away.
“It's already a desperate situation, and it's getting much worse,” Rosborough said in an e-mail from Kashmir. The greatest need is for shelter sturdy enough to hold off the harsh winter elements as IRC teams deliver emergency supplies, medical care and counseling to the many victims in quake-ravaged areas as they suffer from fractures, infections, severe cough, colds, flu, diarrhea and dysentery.
Rosborough was among the first female physicians with the IRC to reach this destroyed region, filling a major need in efforts to reach out to women survivors. “Many women and mothers would not seek or receive assistance otherwise,” said the IRC's Laila Kahn.
Rosborough is no stranger to difficult climates or challenging environments. In addition to attending in BWH's ED, she has helped improve trauma care and emergency medicine in Nepal's capital city and health care in Tanzanian refugee camps. She's an accomplished rock climber and novice ice climber, as well.