Donor Dialogues Ep.1: Kathy Bequary on NYCMedics’ Prehospital Care System in Yemen

In a new series for Airlink, Donor Dialogues looks to highlight key projects and organizations supported by Airlink through the generous donations we receive from supporters and airline and aviation industry partners. 

This week’s focus is on Yemen.

Currently, it remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis according to UN OCHA. This is due to years of protracted conflict on top of the spread of COVID-19, severe economic decline, and the collapse of essential services including health services, among other factors. An estimated 20.7 million people remain in need.

Airlink supported partner, NYCMedics is working in Aden, which is a large municipality and critical hub in southern Yemen. The hospitals there support a large number of patients from surrounding areas on the font lines of civil war, and they are unable to respond to patient needs as they are overburdened with trauma services. There are delays at multiple levels that contribute to high mortality and morbidity such as delays in being transported to the right facility and delays in assessment and stabilization. 

NYCMedics is training paramedics and individuals within emergency operations and ambulance service management as part of their prehospital care system, which is essential to transport patients to the right care at the right place at the right time. They have been working on developing this system in Aden since June 2020.

Airlink is proud to have recently supported a cargo shipment of medical supplies to help bolster NYCMedics’ work on the ground.

Here to talk more in-depth about the program is featured guest, Kathy Bequary, Executive Director of NYCMedics. Airlink’s Director of Development Sandra Walter discusses with Kathy about Airlink’s latest mission to support the healthcare system in Yemen, training the next generation of medics.