Havana, Sep 18.- The role of Emergency Medical Teams in risk situations is on Wednesday part of the agenda of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in the Americas.
Ciro Ugarte, director of PAHO/WHO's Health Emergencies Department in the Americas, told Prensa Latina that the 2010 earthquake in Haiti alerted the international community about the necessary use of medical care in the first hours after the impact.
When earthquakes or hurricanes occur, international aid can take between 72 hours, one week and even longer to arrive, explained Ugarte, attending the Regional Earthquake Response Simulation Exercise, SIMEX 2019, taking place in Havana.
He noted that to conceive and articulate a quick, efficient and quality medical response in scenarios where the necessary help cannot be provided in the absence of conditions is therefore important.
The PAHO/WHO official said that the initiative of emergency medical teams emerged in Cuba mainly due to the prestige and solidarity of the country's specialists.
According to Ugarte, SIMEX 2019 is based on a sudden emergency scenario - an earthquake - with the aim of ensuring that search and rescue teams save as many lives as possible. The initiative takes place this week with theoretical and practical meetings on the measures to be adopted to face risk events such as earthquakes.
Cuba has participated in exercises of this kind in Costa Rica (2014), Chile (2015) and Colombia (2016), according to official sources.