Vanuatu Earthquake: An ‘all hands on deck’ situation that brought helping hands from around the Pacific
Hours after the earthquake struck the main island of Efate on December 17, 2024, staff at Vanuatu’s Vila Central Hospital in the capital, Port Vila, were overwhelmed with more than 200 seriously injured and traumatised people seeking help to dress deep cuts and set broken bones.Earlier that day, Vanuatu Red Cross Society Secretary General Dickinson Tevi was hosting the year-end Christmas party for staff and their families when the ground started trembling and buckling.That was the moment when all present quickly realised that they were dealing with another major disaster, but one very different from the cyclones they were used to.Tevi jumped in his car to survey the extent of the damage and from the state of the roads and what he could see of the buildings, he realised the hospital was going to need all the help it could get.Indeed, the earthquake had badly damaged the hospital’s operating theatre, impacted parts of the main building and patients were already being evacuated. After about two hours, most phone connections stopped working.‘All hands on deck’In the meantime, hospital staff had no choice but to carry on as best they could despite the structural damage, quickly moving the emergency department outside for fear of building collapse. They set up a tent to tend to the wounded.One doctor who rushed back to help summed up the situation as “all hands on deck, we all knew it would be a mass casualty event”.Sadly, 14 fatalities were recorded as a result of the December 17 quake.Moving quickly, Tevi was able to mobilise a team of trained first-aid volunteers to work alongside the hospital’s stretched medical staff. Another Red Cross team was dispatched to help clean up supplies and equipment that had been tossed about by the quake and was cluttering up the storeroom.Crucially, in those first 24 hours, Vanuatu’s emergency response teams kicked into gear. Vanuatu’s Emergency Assistance Team (VANMAT) was deployed to treat injuries, perform emergency surgery and deliver babies.Many doctors and nurses left their families at home and stayed at the hospital to ensure that the injured were cared for and that services continued.New blood for recovery and long-term healthWithin days of the disaster, neighbouring governments stepped up their aid programmes as the extent of the earthquake’s impact became clearer. Specialised Emergency Medical Teams from the Asia Pacific — Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand and the Pasifika Medical Association Medical Assistance Team (PACMAT) — were brought in to fill critical gaps.One of those gaps was the hospital’s blood bank service. The hospital’s acting blood lab manager, Dexter Takao, approached Tevi for help.The Vanuatu Red Cross had already conducted two blood-awareness sessions, as well as donor drives, to ensure the hospital’s doctors could rely on the supply. Meanwhile, the Australian Red Cross, in partnership with the Vanuatu Red Cross, had been tasked with delivering shelter services and supplies, as well as first aid and non-food items.To help fill the gap in the hospital’s blood processing capabilities, the Australian Red Cross’ Lifeblood service quickly responded with equipment and supplies for the overworked blood bank staff. The new blood-processing equipment meant that blood-bank staff no longer had to rely on time-consuming manual collection.The new blood cell washer or centrifuge improves the safety and quality of blood transfusions by cross matching blood and cell antibody types. Other donated items include much needed thermometers, scales and measurement tools.“These machines and supplies will enable us to re-establish blood transfusions and ensure the safety of donations,” said George Junior Pakea, who leads a team responsible for making sure there is enough donated blood to cover emergency and regular needs, among other things.The new equipment will play an important in people’s recovery from the quake and in ongoing health services. “Thanks to the speedy arrival of the Red Cross equipment, we can reduce the turnaround time for the preparation of blood transfusions for conditions like anaemia and mothers who haemorrhage after childbirth, as well as patients undergoing heart surgery,” he said. “We are looking forward to working together with Vanuatu Red Cross to promote community awareness and increase blood donor numbers to ensure we have enough blood to meet our needs.”Connectivity is crucial: ‘IT in a box’The New Zealand Red Cross also responded quickly, launching an emergency appeal the day after the quake that allowed them to support emergency relief efforts, including temporary shelter, food, water, healthcare, protection, psychological services and restoration of communication networks.With additional support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the New Zealand Red Cross also sent two informational technology and telecommunications specialists to ensure the Vanuatu Red Cross’s IT and communications systems remained operational when they were needed most.The team was able to build on work done in June 2024 by the New Zealand Red Cross’s Information Technology and Telecommunications Emergency Response Unit, which had helped to completely upgrade the Vanuatu Red Cross IT systems.The upgrade centered around a unique system called “IT-in-a-Box,” an innovative mobile solution designed for Pacific conditions.“We collaborated really well with local civil engineers,”says John Moriarty, who led the team along with IT specialist Chris Harrison. “With their expertise, we identified the safest working space, and where the IT-in-a-Box could be safely located in the Vanuatu Red Cross national office. We were very pleased with the IT-in-a-Box's ability to withstand the impacts of the earthquake,”“Vanuatu Red Cross staff’s warmth, dedication, and commitment to humanitarian service was truly inspiring,” he added. “It was truly rewarding to apply our technical expertise in direct support of humanitarian efforts in the wake of this crisis."On the global level, the IFRC launched an emergency appeal seeking to raise 5 million Swiss Francs to support the Vanuatu Red Cross Society’s urgent relief efforts to provide shelter, clean water, medical aid, and recovery.The IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund also provided an immediate loan to the appeal of CHF 750,000 to support rapid response in the most impacted areas.