Press Releases

DEKOM-Telekom's Rescue Team Completes Its Mission in Haiti

Budapest, February 4, 2010 15:30

Having completed its mission in Haiti, DEKOM-Telekom's Rescue Team has returned home. Thanks to the extraordinary support of Magyar Telekom the team carried out a rescue mission to help survivors in the country afflicted by an earthquake.

The devastating magnitude 7.0 quake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, destroying its capital city. DEKOM-Telekom's Rescue Team, composed of five doctors and one nurse hastened to help survivors in the area shattered by the quake with about 400 kilograms of equipment, which included instruments such as the mobile ultrasonic instrument needed for emergency care and kits for smaller operations, as well as medication.

Medical care for survivors was provided by DEKOM-Telekom Rescue Team in a mobile hospital set up by Debrecen University's Special Medical and Rescue Team (DEKOM). Members of the rescue team were able to establish contact with the clinics of Debrecen University through satellite telephone and laptop enabling them to seek the opinion of their colleagues back home. Magyar Telekom granted an extraordinary support of HUF 4.5 million to the rescue team on the basis of a special decision taken by the board of Magyar Telekom's Donation Program. The support, supplementing their collection of aid currently underway, made it possible for the DEKOM members to respond rapidly to the crisis situation and hasten to provide aid for survivors.

As Dr. András Késmárky, DEKOM-Telekom's Rescue Team leader explained on their return home:
"We managed to complete our mission in excess of our plans and provided care for about 700 patients in the week we spent there. I am proud that DEKOM-Telekom's Rescue Team worked efficiently and contributed to the care and nursing of the injured.
A part of the team worked in the local hospital's emergency surgery department. We examined and treated people in the streets as well and visited transit camps. We treated less serious cases on the spot and hired cars for those in need of hospital treatment. We managed to organise an ambulance service within Haiti with the support of hospitals.
The sight of the catastrophe shocked us all but we had hardly any time to brood on it. We worked continuously and collapsed into bed in exhaustion only late at night. However, ours is an experienced team having worked at the scenes of the biggest catastrophes of the past five years in Hungary and abroad as well.
Very good professional relations were established with doctors of other nations who recognised our work also by approaching us frequently for help and letting us treat more complicated cases. Our equipment seemed to attract other medical teams as well, and we often helped them out with ultrasound examinations. We mainly treated badly infected wounds and fractures and carried out several operations other doctors did not dare to undertake."

The DEKOM Association is currently the beneficiary of the 1788 Telekom Helpline. T-Home and T-Mobile customers can support the Association by calling or sending text messages to Telekom Helpline 1788 in January and February 2010. Apart from the extraordinary support received from Magyar Telekom, the Association used the amount collected through the Helpline in the last two weeks of January also to help and rescue victims of the earthquake in Haiti. In February, however, they will continue their collection for their originally planned programs, among others, the medical examination and screening of the population living on isolated farms around Debrecen in the framework of the Isolated Farm Program.

The Telekom Donation Line known from the slogan: "1788, the humanitarian line" has been operating for seven years now and can be accessed from both the fixed line and the wireless networks. Calls and text messages initiated from either line cost HUF 100, which amount is tax-free (exception: calls initiated from Domino prepaid cards). The price of all calls received over the two months will go as a donation of the callers to the Special Medical and Rescue Team of the University of Debrecen. They will use the amount to cover the costs of their humanitarian and charity activity.

About Magyar Telekom
Magyar Telekom is Hungary's biggest provider of telecom services. It provides a full range of telecommunications and infocommunications (ICT) services including fixed line and mobile telephony, data transmission and non-voice as well as IT and systems integration services. The business activities of Magyar Telekom are managed by two business units: Consumer services (the home-related services brand T-Home and the mobile communications brand T-Mobile) and Business services (T-Systems brand). Magyar Telekom is the majority owner of Makedonski Telekom, the leading fixed line and mobile operator in Macedonia and it holds a majority stake in Crnogorski Telekom, the leading telecommunications operator in Montenegro. Magyar Telekom's majority shareholder (59.21%) is MagyarCom Holding GmbH, fully owned by Deutsche Telekom AG.
For further information visit www.telekom.hu.