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January 16, 2010 –Washington (Cable Muse Network) - Truckloads of Red
Cross supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince today and thousands of responders are traveling the streets providing water and first
aid as well as finding lost loved ones and transporting people with serious injuries to nearby health facilities.
“America’s support – donations made in the United States to the American Red
Cross – is reaching the hands of survivors in Haiti,” said Steve McAndrew, disaster relief specialist with the
American Red Cross in Port-au-Prince.
Within the convoy that arrived today
are 50-bed field hospitals and purification equipment capable of producing 10,000 gallons of drinking water per day. The mobile
hospitals have a dedicated section to help people cope with emotional trauma. Toys and specially-trained volunteers will be
available to comfort children, who are particularly vulnerable. An additional seven truckloads of equipment and materials
including medical supplies, that were on Red Cross planes re-routed to Dominican Republic Friday, are traveling overland and
are expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince by Sunday. Two flights will arrive in the capital city, carrying enough relief supplies
for more than 32,000 families, on Monday as well.
The American Red Cross team and responders
from more than 30 countries, totaling more than 100, have now arrived and are providing a wide-range of support, including
food, water, field hospitals, emotional support and sanitation services. “We are working with the Haitian Red Cross
volunteers, who have intimate knowledge of the community,” said McAndrew. “Survivors are receiving aid from their
neighbors, who they know and trust, with support from the international community.”
HOW TO HELP
- We are not accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti. If you would like to volunteer for the American Red Cross, please contact your local chapter.
- Persons in Haiti and abroad can search for and register the names of relatives missing since the earthquake at www.icrc.org/familylinks. The International Committee of the Red Cross is helping to reconnect separated families within the country.
- People trying to locate U.S. citizens living or traveling in
Haiti should
contact the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services, at 1-888-407-4747 or (202) 647-5225.
On Monday, American Red Cross President
& CEO Gail McGovern will travel to Port-au-Prince to join other Red Cross leaders in assessing the relief efforts and
planning for long-term recovery.“Our focus now is on the immediate relief for the people of Haiti, but make no mistake,
this is going to be a massive long-term recovery operation,” McGovern said.
Since the earthquake struck, more than
19,300 people have registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross-sponsored Web site (www.icrc.org/familylinks) helping to reconnect families separated during the earthquake. Almost all of the registrations were
from people searching for news about their relatives, although around 1,400 people have so far used the site to say they are
safe and well.
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