Canada Sends Medical Supplies for Katrina Relief

The Canadian federal government is using its National Emergency Stockpile System to send basic medical supplies to help the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. In response to an offer from Canada, U.S. Health and Human Services officials have requested blankets, gloves, gowns, batteries, needles, surgical dressings, bandages, tongue depressors, and bath towels and cloths. More sophisticated equipment, such as mobile hospitals, may be sent later if needed. The supplies are expected to start moving within 24 hours, and will be flown to a distribution point, still to be determined, in the southern United States.

The National Emergency Stockpile System is maintained by the Public Health Agency of Canada so that it can provide emergency medical supplies within 24 hours when requested. The system has a central depot in Ottawa and eight more warehouses across Canada. The stockpile contains everything you would find in a hospital, from pharmaceutical supplies to stretchers, as well as supplies targeted for emergencies, from water decontamination tablets to 200-bed emergency hospitals and mobile quarantine units.

The National Emergency Stockpile System has been used to support emergencies in Canada, such as Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia, and internationally, for the recent south east Asia tsunami as an example.

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