80% of the world's worst natural disasters of the 20th and 21st centuries occurred in our geographical region - earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, typhoons.

Disasters killed 750,000 people in South-east Asia in last 10 years, yet affected 50+ million others.

We have a moral responsibility to help - our neighbours.

Most victims DIE in the first 12 to 24 hours - They are reliant on local emergency responses before international aid can arrive.

The most effective way to help is to train local emergency teams.

What do we do?

We take a proactive approach before any disaster happens through programs such as "Train the Trainer' where Australian clinicians travel to a country and deliver training courses in the areas of Emergency Medicine, Maternal and Child Health and Rural Medicine to the local medical personnel.

This approach not only helps in the improved management of their normal day-to-day patients but more importantly they are better prepared for when either a natural or man-made disaster happens.

Our training programs can run from a week, to 18 months to 3 years depending on the level of training being delivered.

What can you do?

You can support our Australian clinical personnel who are undertaking these training programs.

• $2500 - covers the cost for a clinician for a two week period to deliver a training course or be part of a rotational support role to a training program.
• $10,000 - covers the cost of running a training course over a week in a country supported by a team of 3 Australian clinicians.
• $200,000 - covers the cost to place an Australian clinician in a country to oversee and supervise one of the key "Train the Trainer' programs such as Doctor of Emergency Medicine or Diploma of Emergency Medicine.

Join us at istih.org to see how your gift is spent and helping to make a difference.