Teams from Türkiye, Britain, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Jordan, the Netherlands, Qatar and Spain, among others, are also being mobilised.
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Rescue still priority
The World Health Organization said the immediate needs included mass casualty management and trauma care, particularly in areas with collapsed buildings.
“The overriding priority is to rescue as many people as possible while urgently providing life-saving health care to the injured,” said Ciro Ugarte, emergencies director for PAHO, the UN health agency’s Americas regional branch.
“The first 72 hours are critical to saving lives, and efforts are heavily focused on ensuring timely medical attention for those affected,” he said, speaking from Washington.
“The number of deaths and injured people will significantly increase in the coming hours and days.”
He said the earthquakes had hit a health system that was already fragile, but more than 15 health ministries in the region had pledged support and were ready to deploy teams.
Ugarte said PAHO experts were working on mapping the affected health facilities. They had identified more than 90 hospitals exposed to shaking intensities beyond six and seven on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
“We are prioritising those facilities, including the assessment of the structural safety, emergency department capacities, operating theatres, inpatient beds, blood supply, and oxygen,” he said.
“Hospitals are managing injuries such as broken bones and head injuries, but also we are seeing burns and other injuries that result from building collapse,” he added.
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