Our colleagues at Lebanese Red Cross have been on the ground helping since the beginning. In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, 125 ambulances and 375 emergency medical staff were mobilized from around the country to help treat and evacuate over 3,700 injured people. Mobile health units were set up around the city to help alleviate the pressure on hospitals and Red Cross teams were transporting patients with intensive care needs to hospitals outside of Beirut.
Along with their ongoing provision of emergency medical and blood services, Lebanese Red Cross assisted with search and rescue efforts, provided psychosocial support, helped families to locate missing loved ones, and assessed damages to understand the kind of support affected communities needed to recover.
They also helped people with their immediate needs for temporary shelter, food, water, hygiene kits, mattresses, masks, gloves and other essential relief and cash assistance.
In the long term, Lebanese Red Cross are working with Beirut’s communities to help them recover. Providing cash grants so people can repair their damaged homes, businesses can get back up and running, and families can buy food and pay the bills. They are also providing ongoing psychosocial support people recover from this traumatic event.
Throughout their response to the Beirut Port explosion, Lebanese Red Cross have maintained activities across the country in response to COVID-19.