Corporate Jets to Transport Medical Donations to Mexico; L.A. Will Send Trucks and Bulldozers

A daily shuttle by corporate jets of vital medicines to Mexico City was organized Tuesday by industrialist Armand Hammer and UCLA Medical Center doctors, who issued a call for donations of specific drugs and supplies.

“These things will be put to use saving human lives within minutes after landing in Mexico City,” Frank Ashley, a spokesman for Hammer, said in presenting a list of the supplies sought for the airlift.

The airlift, to begin with an initial flight today and to continue daily “as long as needed,” was only one of several relief efforts being organized by Southern Californians in response to the devastation in Mexico.

Dump Trucks, Bulldozers

The Los Angeles City Council agreed to dispatch a fleet of dump trucks, bulldozers and other rubble-clearing equipment.

Two private air shipments of $35,000 worth of equipment bought by donations received by radio station KALI were sent to Mexico on Monday night, and City Councilman Arthur K. Snyder said additional appeals will be made at the Street Scene Festival in Los Angeles this weekend.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to conduct inventories in county departments as well as the private sector to see if there are available medical supplies, heavy equipment and technical help that could be sent to Mexico City.

Additionally, Gov. George Deukmejian said, state helicopters, firefighting equipment and structural engineering experts already were in Mexico and that more materials were being rounded up by officials of the Office of Emergency Services.

Heeding Call for Aid

He said Californians are heeding his call to donate to relief organizations. “It is certainly no surprise to me,” the governor said, “that Californians have opened up their hearts and they’ve opened up their checkbooks and pocketbooks to generously help their neighbors and people who are in need.”

Ashley said that Hammer, chairman and chief executive officer of the Westwood-based Occidental Petroleum Corp., organized the airlift in conjunction with Mayor Bradley and UCLA doctors, one of whom was in Mexico City when a severe aftershock to the initial quake struck Friday night.

Dr. Rosemary Durazo, described by Ashley as a Mexico City native who has worked there in conjunction with a UCLA program, returned with a list of crucial medical supplies needed in the aftermath of the disaster.

An appeal was issued “to the Los Angeles-area medical community, area hospitals and pharmacies” for the supplies, and Hammer offered use of the corporation’s large private jets to ferry the donations to Mexico City. Ashley said UCLA doctors will oversee the effort.

The materials sought, as listed by Ashley, were Pentothal, Surital, ketamine, succinylcholine, vecuronium, pancuronium, atracurium, atropine, neostigmine, pyridostigmine, edrophonium, fentanyl, morphine, Demerol, endotracheal tubes, antibiotics, sutures, vaccines for typhoid and tetanus, intravenous fluids, catheter-type needles and antiseptics.

Ashley said that doctors, hospitals or pharmacies wishing to donate any of the above materials should take them to a UCLA storage building at 12700 Braddock Rd. Dr. Ronald L. Katz, UCLA Medical Center chief of staff, can be contacted for questions at 825-5023. Ashley can be reached at 879-1700.

Much of the equipment being sent by the city of Los Angeles to Mexico was to be auctioned next month or replaced as part of a regular maintenance cycle, officials said.

“If everything goes right, some of this stuff ought to be in Mexico by (today),” said Snyder, who is coordinating the city’s relief efforts along with Deputy Mayor Grace Davis.