Presenting our Myanmar Experience

Lunch Plenary
Presenting our Myanmar Experience

Date: 19 Sep 2025, Friday | Time: 1205 - 1250 | Track Type: Symposium | Venue: The NAK Auditorium, Level 1, Academia

On March 8, 2015, a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck Myanmar and a state of emergency was declared. Singapore Emergency Medical Team (SGEMT), composed of 34 members, responded to the call for aid. SGEMT's clinical team consists of six doctors, 11 nurses, one physiotherapist, one psychologist and one clinical operation executive from Singhealth institutions. Over eight clinical days, they provided care to 1803 patients in Mandalay City, operating from a field clinic, situated in a football stadium. Of these, 21.7% had diagnoses indirectly or directly related to the earthquake, while the rest were unrelated. The clinical psychologist saw a total of 46 patients with acute stress reactions, while the physiotherapist attended to 221 patients. There were many lessons learnt during this earthquake relief mission. These include the importance of teamwork, of having had proper training, of being highly adaptable and having the support of the local community. Back home, the support crew also conducted ops watch and monitored the team's progress. This plenary session shares the sequence of events during this mission and the valuable lessons learnt for future deployments.

TOPIC 1:
Shaking up the mission – SGEMT’s earthquake deployment to Myanmar 2025
Speaker: Dr Joy Quah

TOPIC 2:
SGEMT Journey – Myanmar Mission
Speaker: Mr Zheng Xinye

TOPIC 3:
The Nursing Perspective
Speaker: Ms Nurhafizah Binte Mohamed Alifi

TOPIC 4:
Sharing on the Concept of Operations and Key Challenges of the Local Operations Watch for Operation Falconwing
Speaker: Mr Goh Jianming