Coronavirus: US Response – International Medical Corps

For more than 35 years, International Medical Corps has provided emergency medical relief and assistance to people around the world affected by conflict, disaster and disease, working with them to recover, rebuild and gain the skills and tools required for self-reliance.

To help meet a rising need for disaster response in the US, International Medical Corps offers robust domestic response capacity that can quickly provide health and medical care to affected jurisdictions. We maintain Mission Ready Packages that enable rapid response to meet the medical surge needs of local jurisdictions, typically within 24 to 72 hours

As of April 10, there were 489,646 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 18,034 deaths from the disease, in the United States. International Medical Corps is responding to the outbreak of coronavirus and COVID-19 in the US and globally, providing expertise, equipment, training, and triage and treatment services. Our multi-pronged approach, which ensures that at-risk countries and regions are able to prepare for and respond to potential outbreaks of the coronavirus, prioritizes areas where the disease has spread or where healthcare systems and populations are particularly vulnerable.

January 7: Chinese health authorities confirm that a cluster of pneumonia observed in the city of Wuhan is associated with a novel coronavirus, now called SARS-CoV-2.

January 20: The first case of COVID-19 in the United States is confirmed in Snohomish County, WA. By March 18, it has spread to all 50 states.

March 20: International Medical Corps deploys emergency medical field units to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in south Los Angeles, the first of a nationwide series of deployments of medical equipment, supplies, staff and assistance.

Los Angeles

As part of its domestic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units and equipment to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, to help them better manage triage and patient flow during surges in demand caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Puerto Rico

International Medical Corps is deploying emergency medical field units at two hospitals in Puerto Rico: Hospital Damas in Ponce, which serves the southern part of the island—still recovering from a series of strong earthquakes in January—and Dr. Ramón Ruiz Arnau University Hospital (HURRA) in Bayamón, which serves the island’s northern and central areas.

International Medical Corps staff build an emergency medical field unit at Hospital Damas in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

New York

International Medical Corps has deployed emergency medical field units, personal protective equipment (PPE) and volunteer clinicians to Flushing Hospital Medical Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The hospitals, both part of the MediSys Health Network, are not-for-profit teaching hospitals that each have served the community of Queens for more than a century. Both now find themselves in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will use the field units to expand the capacity of their emergency departments and improve patient management and flow.

An International Medical Corps staff member speaks with doctors in a newly deployed emergency medical field unit at Flushing Hospital Medical Center.