Since the early hours of 2nd October 2009, 104 Advice began to receive calls from the flood stricken seeking to be rescued. Without losing anytime HMRI acted swiftly and sent this information to the Commissioner (Relief) officials in the respective districts and simultaneously launched its flood relief operations.
With large numbers seeking help, a separate flood response cell was created, comprising two doctors, to attend all calls related to medical needs. Hundreds of calls were received from people seeking rescue, food and water and medical help. Overall, the calls made are linked to more than 50,000 affected people.
While 104 Advice was providing advice and information, simultaneously 104 Mobile jumped into action and began to deploy a large number of resources in the flood affected regions. Through the help of the media, government sources, ground staff and GIS maps, it was assessed that among the five districts affected by floods, Kurnool and Mahabubnagar were extensively damaged.
The team decided to halt all routine operations in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar and focus on relief operations. With speed and knowledge at hand, resources and vehicles were effectively and efficiently allocated and deployed. In total, 126 vehicles and 793 staff were deployed to Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Guntur and Krishna. Relief and medical care was provided to more than 1,30,000 patients who were treated for diarrhea, fever, pregnancy related, snake/scorpion bite cases, etc. Most of this work was done in conjunction and under the supervision of the government medical staff in more than 1300 relief camps & villages.
At HMRI headquarters in Hyderabad, the Disaster Operations Control Center (DOCC) continued to coordinate across multiple agencies, districts and to deal with priority cases. DOCC worked round the clock with a staff of 12 people and 2 senior managers.
Further, HMRI focused on reconstructive activity for the displaced and affected population through a set of ‘relief kits’. These kits have been designed by Dr. Ranga Rao, Chief Medical Advisor; HMRI, with the aim of reconstructing the lives of vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, children and elderly people by bringing about behavioral changes.
The different types of kits are:
These kits are essential for rebuilding the lives of the vulnerable and flood affected families. They are developed at a low cost and would mean an investment of around Rs. 5,000 per family.
Efforts are under progress to seek funds and donations from individuals and organizations to sponsor these kits to the needy families in the flood affected areas of the state.