Introducing Stronghold’s New Ambulance Boat
First, A happy Announcement
Stronghold has been growing and expanding our life-saving operations, and we are happy to announce that we will now be sending out a newsletter every month instead of just once a quarter!
We want to show first-hand how you are helping us save even more lives with your continued support.
We can’t say “thank you” enough!
Stronghold reaches new shores with ambulance boat in burma
One of Stronghold’s missions is to care for the wounded people of war-torn Burma by providing rapid, life-saving medical evacuations. As life or death hangs in the balance, the difference that just an hour can make is vital.
Stronghold’s donor-supported truck ambulances have transported more than 300 patients this year — many of whom were injured by Burma Army gunfire, landmines, mortars, and bombing attacks.
Our truck ambulances allow medics to treat patients on the move, while simultaneously cutting hours off evacuation times — saving critically injured people whose lives are hanging on by a thread.
One of Stronghold’s truck ambulances transporting patients in Burma.
However, right at the edge of one of Stronghold’s medical evacuation routes is a man-made lake. The massive body of water was created when the Burma Army built a hydro-electric dam, drowning out thousands of hectares of land and swallowing dozens of villages belonging to the Karen people.
There is only one open road around this massive body of water to get wounded patients to the clinic on the other side in a timely manner — but it is miles out of the way, and is only open half the year.
So what happens to a patient who needs care across the lake? Picture the scene…
A wounded patient and medic wait at the banks of the lake. They make a call through the radio systems, hoping that someone in the area might have a boat available. (This is an especially slim hope in the middle of the night.)
Two hours later, a tiny boat finally shows up to take the patient. No life jackets, no oxygen, no medical supplies — just a cramped space with an IV (if they’re lucky) and a long trip ahead, with no capacity for proper care on the trip.
Because of the loss of time and care, many of these patients die on the boat as they’re crossing the lake.
A few months ago, the Burma Army fired mortars at a Buddhist monastery, and a young boy — a Buddhist monk — was hit in the stomach by shrapnel. The boy monk was driven across the lake in a villager’s boat and delivered to Stronghold’s ambulances for further care and evacuation.
The boy survived, but the image of the wounded child lying at the bottom of a filthy boat is emblematic of the major lack of medical care available.
The young monk was the last push for what we knew needed to happen next — it was time to build an ambulance boat!
Building Stronghold’s ambulance boat.
The Stronghold ambulance boat getting equipped, and almost ready to launch in Burma.
Stronghold’s first ambulance boat in Burma is ready.
Stronghold’s ambulance boat features:
Beds for two critically injured patients, complete with IVs and oxygen tanks.
A qualified, well-equipped, and dedicated crew on-call for patients 24/7
A stockpile of extra medical supplies for mass casualty scenarios, and for resupplying medics who drop off patients at the boat.
Extra litters for patients who are non-ambulatory.
Lights on the boat to enable night medical evacuations
As the only medical boat in East Burma, Stronghold is filling a massive gap in the emergency medical care system — saving lives that otherwise would have been lost.
Here are just a few scenes showing some of Stronghold’s first boat ambulance patients:
All of this is only possible because of our generous supporters.
You are helping us save lives in war-torn Burma, right now.
Thank you.