The airlift also includes medications and supplies to treat up to 750 people, including firefighters, for health conditions often associated with wildfire emergencies. Items include inhalers for people with respiratory diseases, antibiotics for dermal and ophthalmic injuries, irrigation solutions, wound care products, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

California to Oregon

The volunteer pilots from the California Pilots Association Disaster Airlift Response Team (CalDART) and Angel Flights West loaded their planes at Santa Barbara Airport Saturday morning with the Direct Relief-donated materials before departing for Eugene, Oregon, some via secondary staging areas at Northern California airports.

“Hopefully, the rain expected this weekend in Oregon will bring much-needed moisture to the area,” said Levi Maaia, a volunteer pilot and flight operations coordinator for CalDART based in Santa Barbara. “I’ll be keeping a close watch on the weather and smoke conditions as I plan my flight from here to Eugene in our Cessna.”

In Eugene, volunteers with Reach Out WorldWide are receiving and distributing the supplies to sites including the Evacuee Distribution Center at the Eugene Masonic Lodge, Lane County Public Health Department, Glide Revitalization, and the Medford Expo Center.

“Having lived in Oregon and having so many friends and ROWW volunteers up there directly affected by this fire, it’s really personal for us to be able to help out,” said Cody Walker, CEO of Reach Out WorldWide. “Especially the rural communities – they’re strong, and they’re resilient – but right now they need help. Huge thanks to Direct Relief for answering this plea and assisting ROWW in a big way to get critical supplies to those who need it now.”

Ongoing Wildfire Response

As a California-based nonprofit disaster relief and medical assistance organization, Direct Relief responds each year to wildfires and other emergencies in both its home state and throughout the U.S. and has done so for decades.

Today’s emergency airlift follows several recent deliveries from Direct Relief in response to requests from Oregon-based health facilities and organizations dealing with concurrent crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and record-setting wildfires.

So far this wildfire season, Direct Relief has supported more than 30 health centers, public emergency response offices, and county health departments across California, Oregon, and Washington with more than 70 deliveries of protective gear, respiratory aids, ophthalmic supplies, tetanus vaccines, and other requested medicines and supplies.

“We will do whatever we can to help out and stand with our neighbors in Oregon know from experience how utterly devastating these fires are for people, families, and communities they affect,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “The airlift today, which CalDART members organized rapidly and are doing at their own expense as volunteers, is a wonderful example of what these tough times can use more of — people stepping up, pitching in, and doing what they can in service to others who need some help.  We are deeply grateful to each and every one of them.”

Funded entirely with private charitable support, the organization is a longtime partner of the State of California through its Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), serves on California’s Business Operations Center (BOC), and coordinates its wildfire response activities with the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA).

The post California Relief Squadron Flies Aid to Wildfire-Scarred Oregon appeared first on Direct Relief.

• Access Health Louisiana
• Baton Rouge General Medical Center
• Baton Rouge Primary Care Collaborative, Inc.
• Calcasieu Parish Human Services Department
• Care South
• Eunice Community Health Center
• National Association of Christian Churches

• Primary Care Providers for a Healthy Feliciana, Inc.
• Reach Out Worldwide
• Southeast Community Health Systems
• St. Anna’s Medical Mission
• St. Gabriel Community Health Center
• Team Rubicon

In addition to the provision of medical goods, Direct Relief has awarded $630,000 in post-disaster emergency grants to specific partners to support their capacity to deliver immediate medical care, restore essential health services, and rebuild damaged health facilities.

Medications for Chronic Health Conditions

In emergency situations, persons who depend on medications for chronic conditions – primarily diabetes, asthma, and hypertension – are particularly at risk of a medical crisis if their medications are unavailable.

To address the urgent need for medical resources, nearly 40 companies responded with a wave of in-kind contributions.

Essential medical supplies — insulin, inhalers, vaccines, antibiotics, wound-care products, and personal care items — were donated by companies that include 3M, Abbott, AbbVie, Actavis Pharma, Alcon Laboratories, Anda, Inc., Allergan, Apotex, AstraZeneca, Baxter International, BD, Bionime USA, Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals, CVS, Eli Lilly, GSK, GSMS, Integra LifeSciences, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, LifeScan, Magno-Humphries Labs, McKesson, Medtronic, Merck, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, Neutrogena, Novartis, Omron Healthcare, Pfizer, Prestige Brands, Purdue Pharma, Sanofi, Sappo Hill Soapworks, Second Harvest, TEVA, and Unilever.

Pre-positioned Modules in Louisiana Tapped

In a program developed following after-action reports of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Direct Relief each year pre-positions specially designed emergency medical modules containing chronic medications in more than 50 communities most at risk for hurricanes and floods.

Three of these pre-positioned caches, each containing $20,000 in medical essentials developed in collaboration with partner facilities over the past ten years, are in Louisiana and have already been tapped.

FedEx Making Overnight Deliveries of Emergency Aid

Direct Relief works extensively with FedEx in emergency preparedness and response activities, and as soon as the need for assistance became clear, the company began delivering shipments of requested emergency medical items at no cost. This has included extensive inventories of items that require “cold-chain” handling, such as insulin and vaccine – both of which are being requested in large volumes that are anticipated to continue as evacuees remain away from their medical homes.

Walmart & Ellen DeGeneres Fund Recovery Efforts

A Huge Donation to Louisiana Relief

Ellen’s friends at Walmart generously donated an incredible amount of money toward the Louisiana flood relief.

Walmart partnered with Ellen to donate $1.5 million to recovery efforts in Louisiana. The donation — the single largest in the show’s history — supported three organization including Direct Relief, with each receiving $500,000.

Close Coordination with Louisiana Health Centers, Clinics, Associations, Local Officials

As the only US charity with VAWD accreditation from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and licensed to distribute Rx medications in all 50 states, Direct Relief conducts the largest charitable medicines program in the US.  The vast US program was created following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the significant gaps exposed at that time, and last year provided 10,000 deliveries of medications and supplies to more than 4,000 health facilities serving 12 million patients in all 50 states.

In Louisiana, Direct Relief’s activities are being conducted with many of the local health centers that helped shape this program 12 years ago and with which Direct Relief has supported ever since. All medications and supplies are specifically ordered by qualified, licensed health facilities and furnished free of charge.

Policy Regarding Louisiana Flood Donations

As with other large-scale emergencies, Direct Relief’s policy regarding donations for the Louisiana Floods is simple: all contributions designated for Louisiana flooding are used solely for relief and recovery efforts related to flooding in Louisiana.

No emergency funds are used for fundraising expenses: a bequest pays 100% of Direct Relief’s fundraising expenses. This means that no portion of any contribution for Louisiana flooding is used for fundraising purposes.

The post Louisiana Floods: Six-Month Update on Direct Relief’s Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

• One Heart World Wide
• Possible Health
• Doctors for You (Indian Medical Team)
• Himalayan Health Care
• Patan Hospital
• Rescue Network Nepal
• SSSCT (Indian emergency response organization)
• Team Rubicon
• ROWW
• Fistula Treatment Centers in Nepal

The US Geological Survey recorded at least 12 aftershocks across the region, with additional reports of casualties in India, Bangladesh, and on Mount Everest. The government has declared states of emergency in the affected areas.

Since 2008, Direct Relief has delivered over $1,000,000 worth of medicines and supplies to its charitable healthcare provider partners in Nepal.

The post Nepal Earthquake: Emergency Update appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief’s free clinic partners, Conway Interfaith Clinic in Conway, Ark. and Corning Area Health Care, Inc‘s family medical site in Pocahontas, Ark. will use the supplies of family emergency kits and other personal care items for people who have evacuated to local shelters.

Additional shipments of requested care items and chronic disease medicines for people with diabetes, hypertension, and asthma who lost access to their daily medicines in the storms are headed to both sites today. A shipment is also being prepared for the Greater Meridian Health Clinic network in Louisville, Mississippi.

Moreover, Direct Relief is in communication with Reach Out WorldWide, a nonprofit rapid response organization that will perform on-the-ground assessments of partners who Direct Relief’s Emergency Team has been unable to reach as well as connect the team with potential new clinic and health center providers.

Direct Relief’s Emergency Team has also been in contact with the Red Cross to support any shelters they open up as well as state primary care associations, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics.

Immediately after the storms, Direct Relief  activated its response program, contacting over 500 health center and clinic partners across 18 states that were under threat of tornadoes and inclement weather. Direct Relief’s Emergency Team predicts more supplies will be requested as needs are assessed and clean-up efforts continue. So far, at least 34 people have been killed and hundreds more injured. Direct Relief continues to monitor storm activity in the region and is ready to respond to requests as they arise.

Direct Relief’s rapid response is enabled by support from FedEx, which is providing overnight shipping of the supplies free-of-charge as well as donations of medicines and supplies from corporate supporters, including: 3M, Abbott, AstraZeneca, BD, Chattem Inc., Covidien, CVS Corporation, GSMS Incorporated, Merck & Co., Inc., Neutrogena Corporation, Prestige Brands, Roche Diagnostics, and Sanofi US Foundation for North America.

As the only U.S. nonprofit to obtain Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor (VAWD)© certification by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Direct Relief is uniquely positioned to respond to emergencies like this one that affect multiple states across the country.

The post Aid Arrives for People Affected by Deadly U.S. Tornadoes appeared first on Direct Relief.

THE LARGEST TYPHOON EVER

Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda), the largest typhoon in recorded history, struck the Visayas regions of the Philippines on November 8 and caused widespread damage and destruction. Because of the typhoon’s size and storm path, it made landfall across a large geographic area where millions of people live and work. The United Nations reports up to 15 million people have been affected in some way. More than 90 percent of structures in the storm’s path suffered damage or total destruction, more than 4 million people remain displaced from their homes, and at least 7,500 people are confirmed dead or still missing. Additionally, the majority of health facilities located in and around the storm path were severely damaged—many lost power and water, and even more lost all of the supplies and equipment needed to treat the patients injured during the typhoon.

THE IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

Direct Relief rapidly mobilized relief supplies just hours after Typhoon Haiyan made landfall and was in close communication with the Embassy of the Philippines and the Philippine Consulate of Los Angeles to ensure the needed supplies made it to responders.

Currently, Direct Relief’s Emergency Response Team is on the ground doing on-site assessments of the medical facilities in the most severely affected regions of the Visayas. Working with Palantir Technologies, which provides the platform for live-sharing of information, the groups have assessed over 125 health facilities, including health outposts, provincial hospitals, and mobile medical facilities.

SAVING LIVES WITH MEDICINES AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES

In response to the overwhelming medical needs of storm survivors, Direct Relief has provided more than 50 tons of medical material valued at over $10 million (wholesale) to the region. Shipments have included antibiotics, pain relievers, nutritional supplements, anti-fungal medications, wound dressings, and chronic disease medicines.

On November 23, FedEx provided an MD-11 cargo plane to ship the largest single donation of medicines and supplies in Direct Relief’s history. This shipments contained enough antibiotics and oral rehydration solutions to treat more than 200,000 people for dehydration and bacterial infections.

To date, the largest portion of medications and supplies have been donated directly to the Philippine Red Cross, which is uniquely positioned to rapidly deploy medical material and personnel into the hardest hit areas. Working with local leadership and local communities, they have deployed basic healthcare units to treat the ongoing medical needs of patients in eight areas where local medical capacity was limited. Additionally, they have set up hospitals in two areas where they have the in-patient capacity to care for 25 people in the facility. These facilities have all been stocked with medicines and supplies from Direct Relief.

To facilitate the efficient aggregation and distribution of medicines and supplies throughout the affected region, Direct Relief is working with local partner the IPI Foundation Inc., which is providing temporary warehousing space in Cebu.

WORKING WITH LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES

Direct Relief has been working closely with Department of Health Directors and Provincial Health Officers to ensure support is being provided to the large provincial hospitals where patients go for critical care. At the request of these local health officials, Direct Relief has delivered essential medications, supplies, and nutritional supplements to ten hospitals in all three of the hardest-hit regions.

Direct Relief staff continue to visit health facilities and build relationships with key government officials and charitable organizations working in Regions 6, 7, and 8. Among the hospitals visited was the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, also known as Leyte Provincial Hospital, a 250 bed level 4 tertiary facility and training hospital and the main referral center for Tacloban City. Hospital officials expressed an urgent need for medical equipment and durables.

The teams also visited the Schistosomiasis Control and Research Hospital in Leyte, a 25-bed facility which was founded in 1975 to treat Schistosomiasis a (neglected tropical disease) but now offers a whole range of medical services including mental health support. Staff then traveled to Samar and assessed four additional facilities that are in need of support. Much of the attention and support in the aftermath of the typhoon has been focused on Tacloban; however, it is clear that the need extends much further into outlying areas.

PROVIDING IMMEDIATE RELIEF THROUGH CASH GRANTS

Thanks to the generous monetary donations from individuals, foundations, and companies wanting to assist in this recovery, Direct Relief has been able to provide $150,000 in cash grants to locally-run Filipino organizations that are the best-suited to provide immediate relief and long-term recovery to this crisis. As a result of this support, 6,680 relief packs have been distributed to families in need throughout Eastern Samar, Leyte, and northern Cebu.

Health Facilities Supported

Below is list of some of the health facilities benefiting from Direct Relief’s medical material support:

Leyte

• Bethany Hospital, Tacloban
• Divine Word Hospital, Tacloban
• Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, Tacloban
• Schistosomiasis Control and Research Hospital, Palo

Cebu

• Bantayan District Hospital, Bantayan Island
• Cebu Provincial Hospital, Bogo

Panay

• Barotac Veijo District Hospital, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo
• Sara District Hospital, Sara, Iloilorea
• Balasan District Hospital, Balasan, Iloilo
• Bailan District Hospital, Pontevedra, Capiz
• Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital, Roxas City, Capiz
• Dao District Hospital, Doa, Capiz

Samar

• Samar Provincial Hospital, Catbalogan
• Calbayog District Hospital, Calbayog
• Tarangnan Community Hospital, Tarangnan

Surigao Del Norte

• Caraga Regional Hospital, Surigao

Key Partners

Direct Relief and the Asia America Initiative have partnered with several charitable organizations that are transporting, storing, distributing, and utilizing donations of medicine and medical supplies, including:

Access Aid International
IPI Foundation Inc.
Philios Health
Philippine Red Cross
Philippines Center for Relief and Disaster Risk Reduction (PHIL Relief)
Reach Out WorldWide
Team Rubicon

KEY SUPPORTERS

Without the generosity of corporate supporters, this effort would not be possible. Companies that have donated urgently-needed medicines, medical supplies, nutritional items and/or cash include:

21st Century Fox
3M
Abbott and Abbott Fund
AbbVie and AbbVie Foundation
Actavis Pharma Inc.
Advanced Sterilization Products
Aera Energy LLC
Allergan, Inc. and the Allergan Foundation
Amgen Foundation
Ansell
Aspen Surgical
Basic Medical
Baxter International Inc.
BD
Bristol-MyersSquibb

Carnival Corporation
Cera Products, Inc.
Chattem Inc.
Clif Bar & Company
Cost Plus World Market
Covidien
C.R. Bard
CustomInk LLC
CVS Corporation
DRIP DROP
Eli Lilly
FedEx
GlaxoSmithKline
Grifols, Inc.
GSMS Incorporated
Henry Schein
Honeywell Products
Hospira

Johnson & Johnson
Merck & Co., Inc.
Microflex
Mylan Laboratories Inc.
NAPO Pharmaceuticals
News America Incorporated
Nephron Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer Prestige Brands
Pro Packing, Inc.
Ranbaxy Senator Investment Group LP
Shire
Teva Pharmaceuticals
Virtus Pharmaceuticals
Yorba Oil Company, Ltd

The post Typhoon Haiyan Response: One Month Update appeared first on Direct Relief.

Our team became familiar with Paul Walker shortly after he founded ROWW,  following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. ROWW is a network of professionals with first-responder skill sets who provide their expertise in post-disaster situations to help accelerate relief efforts.

Direct Relief supports ROWW’s licensed medical responders with medicines and supplies such as wound care, antibiotics, infection control, diagnostics, and other equipment needed to meet a variety of disaster-related health needs. Most recently we equipped a ROWW responder headed to the Philippines with critical care supplies to help people affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

His passion for supporting first-responders on the frontlines, sending these citizen volunteers to areas of high need was obvious.

Sadly, Walker had just left a ROWW benefit supporting survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines when he and his business partner were killed after their vehicle hit a tree, as reported in the New York Daily News.

Our best tribute to Paul is to keep pushing forward with the ongoing work and to continue to support ROWW responders with the tools they need to fulfill his organization’s mission.

The post Partner Spotlight: Equipping Reach Out WorldWide Responders appeared first on Direct Relief.

Reach Out’s team is traveling to Indonesia to assist in the emergency response. Formed in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in January 2010, Reach Out Worldwide sends volunteers with medical training to emergency situations in the United States and abroad. Teams of seven to ten people form highly mobile and self-sufficient medical units, administering primary care to people in need.

The post Direct Relief Equipping Mobile Medical Team for Tsunami Response in Indonesia appeared first on Direct Relief.