Direct Relief had a shipment in Haiti when the earthquake struck. When I talked to them...

[Hekate]

... this afternoon (their headquarters/warehouse is only 2 miles from my home, so Mr H and I dropped off our Haiti check in person) the woman I spoke with said that because DRI has an ongoing partnership with Haiti, one 20' container and one 40' container shipment had just arrived by boat when the earthquake hit. That is actually very good news because Direct Relief International ships medical supplies to disaster areas.

She said that they didn't know yet if the containers had been offloaded and were more or less safely on the ground or if they were stuck on the ship. From film footage from above, they already know that the unloading crane has broken off into the harbor and is therefore useless. That's the bad news.

However, one of their people is on his way right now to personally assess the situation and a million dollars more in supplies and assistance has been committed.

They have updates of their Haiti activities on their home page. http://www.directrelief.org/

Hekate

[Hekate]

1. Kick. Thanks folks for the Rec's.

[Hekate]

2. Today's update: DRI's partners are outside Port-au-Prince treating the injured

Regarding my second quote, it should be noted that FedEx has a longstanding partnership with Direct Relief, in that they donate their transportation services to them. That's outstanding. Same link for both articles.

~Hekate

http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2010/EarthquakeHaiti.aspx
Partners Outside Port-au-Prince Treating Quake Injured
January 14, 2010

Direct Relief partners reported this morning that they are seeing increasing numbers of patients from the quake-affected areas of Port-au-Prince are seeking care at their facilities outside the damage zone.

With medical facilities in Port-au-Prince overwhelmed or destroyed, patients are migrating out to neighboring areas to seek care. Aid deploying tomorrow will help replenish their stocks so they can continue to care for the injured. Direct Relief also is expanding its support to partner sites across Haiti that are seeing increased patient loads due to the lack of available facilities in the capital.
>snip<
Partners in Health (PIH) shared that people are traveling hours on their own to seek care and have headed to Cange, where PIH operates Zanmi Lasante Sociomedical Complex, a 104-bed full-service hospital. The facility has two operating rooms, adult and pediatric inpatient wards, a laboratory, a pharmaceutical warehouse, a blood bank, and radiographic services.

St. Damien Children’s Hospital reported that it has sustained only minor structural damage. The facility is near the airport in Port-au-Prince. The emergency medical aid shipment departing tomorrow is destined for St. Damien, with additional plans being developed for follow-up deliveries to other partners.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FedEx to Airlift $2 Million in Medical Aid to Haiti
January 13, 2010

With the staggering scale of human tragedy becoming more clear, Direct Relief extends our deepest sympathies to the people who have lost loved ones in Haiti.

To assist survivors, the organization’s emergency response team is arranging an emergency airlift containing over $2 million in medicines and medical supplies that will depart Friday.

The aid consignment will be transported by FedEx, a major contributor to Direct Relief’s emergency response work, which is again donating its legendary logistics expertise as well as airlift for the consignment.
>snip<

[hayu_lol]

3. Anyone trying to get info from Haiti...

should contact their local HAM Radio club. There may well be surviving HAM operators there who have solar power to charge their batteries and/or generators.

Any local ham knows of high power stations who can make direct contacts using the amateur frequencies.

[Hekate]

4. Good thought. We tend to forget that HAM radio still exists--and works.

:hi: