The fires collectively burned more than 16,000 homes, businesses and community centers over 40,000 acres, leading to the deaths of at least 29 people and the displacement of more than 200,000—including families, older people and those with special needs. Smoke from the fires degraded air and water quality, creating respiratory issues and cardiovascular problems, especially for vulnerable populations.
International Medical Corps quickly sent teams to provide medical and mental health care in emergency shelters that were established to accommodate evacuees. We also supported—and continue to support—health centers serving low-income and vulnerable populations by providing them with critical supplies and resources.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, International Medical Corps deployed a response team immediately after the fires began and coordinated closely with local partners—including LA City and County governments—in affected areas to assess the impact of the wildfires, provide aid and fill gaps as needed. Our teams also quickly provided truckloads of essential relief supplies—including thousands of hygiene kits, first-aid kits and KN95 masks—to support affected communities, health facilities and local organizations.
We then moved to providing direct critical care in shelters and communities, deploying volunteer medical and mental health personnel from our emergency roster to treat hundreds of displaced residents in shelters, as well as provide mental health resources and medical supplies at distribution centers and re-entry points.
Ove the course of our response, we reached more than 66,000 people directly and more than 141,000 people indirectly with essential health resources and services. From January 17 to February 16, when we were providing direct medical and mental health services, we:
In addition, we provided—and continue to provide—support to health facilities (including federally qualified health centers, which serve low-income and other vulnerable populations) and community centers, initially distributing more than 76,400 essential relief and recovery items, hygiene kits, medical supplies and medical equipment—including nebulizers, air purifiers, pillows, blankets, catheters, diapers and more. We continue to provide direct financial assistance to support frontline health workers, health clinics and social service organizations, helping to ensure that they are able to continue delivering critical care.
We are still working with these partners to provide training and support where needed. For example, we are collaborating with state and community clinic partners to preposition essential supplies—including medicines, medical supplies, hygiene items and more—with impacted health facilities, local organizations and resource-access sites. And leveraging our 40+ years of experience, we are working with more than 30 partners across Los Angeles County to plan and implement high-quality emergency preparedness and response training at the state, county and clinic levels—helping to ensure continuity of care in the face of future disasters.
For more information on our response, please read our situation reports.
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