A WROUGHTON nurse joined the disaster relief efforts in the Philippines by hand-delivering £4,000 worth of medical equipment to a hospital in the country to improve health services in rural areas.

Ed Sipoy, a charge nurse of the BMI Ridgeway Hospital for the past 15 years, presented the equipment to Dr Ruel Reynario Rebustillos, City Health officer of Sorsogon.

The hospital donated three urinalysis, manual blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring machines vital to doctors in the Typhoon-hit country, vital to carry out medical missions in the remote communities of the city.

Ed also took it upon himself to buy extra supplies including resuscitator masks and first aid kits for the Bicol Emergency Response Network, a voluntary organisation which responds to natural disasters.

“I provided the adult and paediatric basic life support training for the members of the organisation,” said Ed, who regularly travels back to the Philippines to train those in local and isolated rural communities and increase the poor survival rate for heart attacks.

“This organisation still uses the two resuscitation manikins previously donated by our hospital back in 2008.

“Unfortunately, emergency responders don’t have access to defibrillators and I am hoping that one day I can bring that vital piece of equipment to increase survival of cardiac arrest victims in the community.”

Typhoon Haiyan tore a path of destruction over 100 miles wide through the central Philippines in November last year.

It brought torrential rain, winds of over 170mph and a storm surge of up to 25ft that devastated coastal areas. More than 14 million people where affected, including five million who have seen their homes damaged or destroyed. More than 6,000 people lost their lives.

More equipment, including a blood glucose monitoring machine and digital blood pressure machine, were given to Magallanes birthing facility.

The facility is a project of the Provincial Government as part of the Millennium Development Goal to reduce maternal deaths to 54 per 100,000 childbirths by 2016.

“We are extremely proud of Ed and the work he is doing in the Philippines,” said director of nursing, Gillian Taylor.

“The training he provides is priceless. To buy the extra equipment himself is perfectly typical of Ed.

“He’s one in a million and is always thinking of how he can help others. We have nominated Ed for a staff recognition scheme within BMI Healthcare to thank him for all that he does.”