Three emergency aid workers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center are providing medical care to victims injured in an earthquake that rocked Bam, a ancient city in Iran, on Dec. 26.
John Hinds, Robert Cooper and Robert Gougelet are three of about 200 U.S. emergency relief workers dispatched after a quake registering 6.6 on the Richter scale ravaged the Middle East country.
Hinds and Cooper work for DHMC's Advanced Response Team, DHART, which provides area emergency response via helicopter. Gougelet is medical director of DHMC's Disaster Response Team.
DHART Director Donna Clark said Hinds' and Cooper's experience makes them ideal candidates for the demanding job.
"Both John Hinds and Chip Cooper are very committed to their work with disaster response and they make a lot of sacrifices to be able to do this work," Clark said.
Hinds is DHART's crew chief, and Cooper is the critical care transport paramedic.
The team sent to Iran was organized through the Federal Emergency Management Aid and is not officially affiliated with DHMC, DHMC spokesperson Tamsin Stubbs said.
The quake's death toll has risen to over 30,000 people, according to Iranian officials.
Clark said she hasn't spoken personally to the three since they left the U.S. Dec. 26. But Hinds called to work Monday to say he was OK, she said.
Hinds has experience with disaster relief, having worked in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
However, Clark said she expects the work in Iran to be substantially more challenging than the conditions DHART faces in and around DHMC.
"They're trying to help these individuals without facilities or support staff," she said.
Still, Clark and other DHART members who remained at home are proud of the work the three are doing overseas.
"We're all proud of the work that they've done and we're anxiously awaiting their safe return," she said. "I think this is demonstrative of the commitment that DHART and DHMC has to pitching in and helping out in the world. Being a hospital and being a transport program isn't just about helping in our own little hole. It's about sharing the experience and helping out elsewhere too."
