Typhoon and Flooding in South East Asia

Statement from the President of the World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care (WFICC)

Torrential rains in multiple Southeast Asian countries over the last week have brought deadly flooding and landslides with a death toll over 1,100 as of Monday this week. The floods have impacted millions of people across the region. Parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were hit by cyclone-fuelled rains and Sri Lanka was battered by a separate storm that has created the most difficult rescue operation the country has seen.

This has created a humanitarian emergency which is rapidly unfolding and growing. In response, the initial focus of the World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care (WFICC) has been to connect with our society colleagues in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia who have the local knowledge to identify the most immediate support needs and coordinate the responses from the international community.

While our thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in the region, we call for international assistance to help to our colleagues in the affected region. For additional information please follow updated news on our society websites:

College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists of Sri Lanka https://anaesthesia.lk
Ceylon College of Critical Care Specialists www.criticalcaremedicine.lk
Thai Society of Critical Care Medicine https://criticalcarethai.org
Malaysian Society of Intensive Care https://www.msic.org.my/
Indonesian Society of Critical Care Medicine https://perdici.org

It is during these moments that WFICC’s mission to secure the highest quality care for patients needs to be at the centre of a truly collaborative international response to this natural disaster. In making our contribution, we will focus on what we do best – working to ensure that people are connected. We encourage you to help in any way you can. Let’s all continue our prayers for our brothers and sisters in the region and hope for a speedy recovery of all those affected.

Javier Perez Fernandez
Miami, FL, USA

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