Raising funds to purchase cardiac monitors for Emergency Departments and High Dependency Units in SL
The number of new COVID -19 cases in Sri Lanka has been reaching new highs, reporting more than 1,700 new cases and 5-12 deaths each day for the past few days. The public healthcare system is stretched to its limits and may have to face even bigger challenges as this crisis continues, with shortages in medical equipment, critical care facilities and essential medical supplies.
Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team (AUSLMAT) is hoping to raise funds within the Australian community to purchase much needed cardiac monitors for emergency and critical care departments for hospitals all across Sri Lanka. Many emergency departments in public hospitals in Sri Lanka are severely under-resourced in terms of the number of cardiac monitors they require to monitor the clinical status of patients, and there’s a growing demand for such equipment during the current crisis. These devices are used to monitor patients’ blood pressure, oxygen levels and heart rhythm. Many may not be aware of the fact that more than a third of patients who become critically unwell from COVID die from heart related complications, such as heart attacks, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
Currently, 12 Phillips G30E cardiac monitors are available from NexGen Healthcare and each is valued at Rs 400,000 ( AUD 2625/=) and we are hoping to purchase as many of them as our funds would facilitate.
Please contact the AUSLMAT team on admin@auslmat.org if you wish to discuss this matter further. Otherwise, a donation through our website would be greatly appreciated.
Many families in Sri Lanka are going through extreme financial hardship at present, particularly those who rely on daily wages. Some children in these families will be forced to leave school to earn a living, their basic right to finish their education being stolen from them.The KKS (Keep Kids in School) program was commenced in July 2020 under the auspices of the Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team, with the aim of financially supporting the educational needs of a group of such vulnerable children in remote villages around Tissamaharama.
The aim of the project is to ensure that these children complete school up to the Advanced Level exam, by having their educational costs met by sponsorship (estimated as AUD 10 a month, or AUD 120 per year) – 100% of donations will go towards the educational expenses of the sponsored children, such as stationary, school shoes and uniforms. There are no administrative costs involved and all payments are tax-deductible.
The project is coordinated locally by Mr. Hilary Mathiasz, a retired school teacher, and Mr. Sandeep of SVS Bookshop in Tissa.
Sponsors are most welcome to maintain personal contacts with the students they are sponsoring, and receive annual feedback including the school report cards, which would be an incentive for the students to perform well academically.
We are proud to have over 90 children under the program by now, and we are hoping to expand the program to incorporate more students in 2021. Please contact the AUSLMAT team on admin@auslmat.org if you are interested in sponsoring a child under the KKS program.
PLEASE NOTE: due to the pandemic situation, all travel and missions to Sri Lanka are on hold.
The next Medical Mission will likely cover the following locations:
Galle · Yala · Batticaloa / Pasikudah · Dambulla · Colombo
Given the joys and successes experienced by all in past trips, we will open our arms to new attendees. We will be in need of diabetes educators (student-level welcomed), ophthalmologists and optometrists.
All are welcome to inquire as we also need medical generalists and specialists, allied health professionals, non-medical support and translator/interpreters.
Our work will include:
- Ongoing medical education at tertiary medical centres and regional hospitals in Southern and Central Sri Lanka
- Resource provision (spectacles, hospital supplies, medication) in regional health services
- Diabetes education and screening
- Visits to community health centres, schools and orphanages
If you have skills or experience in delivering healthcare, a connection to Sri Lanka or are just keen to get involved in our work, please contact us at admin@auslmat.com.au.
Please note that volunteers pay their own expenses (airfares, local transport, accommodation and food).
Shamindi met AUSLMAT at the Beralihela Medical Centre when we did a clinic with Dr. Eresha a few years ago. Her letter was written in English with the help of Hilary Mathiasz the English tutor for the whole village.
Beralihela and Tissamaharama are quite close to the Yala sanctuary. Many of these children have never visited the sanctuary because there is a fee to enter. They live close enough to hear the trumpeting of the wild elephants! AUSLMAT makes a stop-over at Yala from the east coast of Sri Lanka on each of our visits to Sri Lanka.
We support Mr Hilary in his tutoring of these children in English.
Nishantha and Kumara are men who go deep sea fishing off the coast of Weligama . They asked for some protection from the elements when they spend days out at sea. Most of the fish are dried and salted on board before they return to the Weligama harbour. They have lost friends and relatives who have never returned from such fishing trips – accepted by them as a part of life and the dangers of such an occupation.
Nishaji is the daughter of one of them – she will join the AUSLMAT team on our next visit to Sri Lanka .
A plaque in memory of the first Methodists is located at the Methodist Church Weligama and reads “ Revds. George Erskine and William Ault – two of the first Weslyan Missionaries to Asia landed on this beach on Thursday 30th June 1814.
AUSLMAT Achieves ATO Charitable Status
AUSLMAT, the Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team, was born out of the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. It was incorporated in 2005, but it wasn’t till 2016 that AUSLMAT was formally registered as a charity with the ACNC (Australian Charities for Not-for-profits Commission), and subsequently included on the ATO’s Deductible Gift Register (DGR). That means that AUSLMAT can now you issue you with a tax deductible receipt for donations made, and in turn, those donations will be recognised by the ATO when you make a claim as AUSLMAT is on the ATO’s deductible gift register.
Thanks to previous Secretary Michelle and current Treasurer Gordon for leading us to this very important milestone!
Weligama, Sri Lanka
Passikudah,Sri Lanka
Unaya Rd, Lunawa
Hirimbura Cross Rd, Galle 80000, Sri Lanka
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