Following the tragic incident in the Wellington area of eastern Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 5 November this year in which about 144 people were killed and nearly 300 injured as a result of a petrol tanker explosion, France has provided humanitarian assistance to the victims.
The Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted €150,000 (nearly 2 billion Leones) to the French NGO, HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL, which will provide services for 6 months to the severely burnt victims, as well as to their caregivers.
The humanitarian project involves adequate and specialized physical rehabilitation services for the 80 victims, which are urgently needed to prevent complications and the development of disabilities.
In coordination with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, a rehabilitation specialist from HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL’s emergency pool is travelling to Freetown to assist 50 nurses, 17 physiotherapy students and four professional physiotherapists to provide adequate rehabilitation to burnt patients ranging from respiratory care, positioning, splints, to progressive mobilisation. Functional rehabilitation services will also include the provision of appropriate assistive and mobility devices (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches) and splints to improve the functional movement of beneficiaries.
The aim of these is to cover the early phase of rehabilitation. The intervention also aims to cover the medium-term physical rehabilitation of the injured.
Education sessions will also be organized for 160 caregivers of the injured, particularly at community level. This is to help caregivers understand the individual needs of their injured loved one.
At the end of the session, the caregivers will be capacitated to manage home care services, handling, positioning and transfer. The training provided by Handicap International will also help the caregivers to support the injured persons in their daily activities. This will include basic therapeutic exercises, and where appropriate, instructions on the use and maintenance of assistive and mobility devices, as well as guidance.
France and Handicap International wish to show solidarity with the surviving victims of the fire disaster and also expressed their sincere condolences to the families of the deceased.
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