Red Cross Haiti Update - Jan. 16, 2010
  

Red Cross Haiti Relief Effort

Saturday, January 16, 2010, 3:30pm

 Locally

• We continue to raise money for the relief effort.  Everyone from major law firms to 4 year old boys bringing in their allowance are coming to our headquarters with their donations.  In addition, with the help of local TV stations, we have raised over $100,000 through on-air phone banks. 
• Two local men have been found in the wreckage – a Frisco man who returned home yesterday and a Colorado Springs man who was found but whose return is unknown.
• The Mile High Chapter has an array of specialists that could be called to Haiti including mental health specialists, logistics, and mass care.  We have not been deployed yet, but that could change at any point.  

Latest National & International Information

• The Red Cross is performing triage, first aid, addressing urgent needs and mobilizing a massive response operation in Haiti.  A base camp has been secured near the airport with warehousing facilities for relief supply staging.   We have specialists who will be providing a wide range of help and support, including food, water, field hospitals, emotional support, sanitation facilities and helping restore links between families
• At present, there are thousands of Red Cross workers, representing 30 countries, on the ground assisting with relief efforts in the affected region.
• The seven truckloads of materials - that were on an ICRC plane re-routed to DR - will travel over land and are expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince by Sunday.
• A cargo plane, in partnership with FedEx is scheduled to arrive in the region on Monday, on which will be approximately relief items for approximately 20,000 families. Relief items include blankets, jerry cans, mosquito nets and hygiene items.
• As of January 16, more than 19,300 people had registered with the ICRC's special family links website. 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.
• Verizon Wireless is wiring the Red Cross $3 million that has been donated by its customers via 90999. This means that the funds pledged for Haiti relief will get to the Red Cross much faster than if the company had waited until customers paid their bills – with the $10 donation – and then remitted the money to the Red Cross. 
•  The Red Cross is training and recruiting 40-100 Creole-speaking volunteers to work as translators on the USS Comfort, where Haitians will be brought aboard for medical care, at the request of U.S. military. Red Cross Service to Armed Forces staff will provide supervisory support. 
•  International Committee of the Red Cross workers in Port-au-Prince have provided medical assistance to five major hospitals and clinics, as well as to smaller facilities set up by local doctors in areas with a high concentration of earthquake survivors.
•  In addition, the ICRC is supporting efforts to ensure the bodies of the dead can be recovered and identified for the families. Contrary to popular belief, experts say the bodies of people who have died in disasters, like an earthquake, do not spread disease.
• Since the earthquake struck on Tuesday, the American Red Cross has raised nearly $60 million (as of January 15) - and we know we are going to spend much more than that to help the people of Haiti.

 Frequently Asked Questions

 Why is it taking so long to get aid to people in Haiti?

• The aftermath of the earthquake has posed logistical challenges for all humanitarian organizations, including Red Cross responders, who are working around the clock to ensure aid reaches the survivors.   We are trying everything possible. We have planes loaded with supplies and ready to land, but due to damage and over-crowding at the one-runway airport in Port-au-Prince, many flights have been diverted. While the airport is operational for humanitarian flights, there is a huge backlog, and the Red Cross is among the organizations waiting for clearance for local authorities   We are sending supplies by cargo ship but the port was severely damaged and is not expected to open until January 18. Even the cranes needed to unload boats have been damaged, rendering them inoperable and there are only a few forklifts.
• We were able to get some of our responders into Haiti by ground transportation from the Dominican Republic. But that is an 11-hour drive – fuel is scarce, the roads are impassable in some places, covered with debris or clogged with people, making travel within the capital city difficult.
• There is a near-total blackout in Port-au-Prince. Due to limited electricity, communications remain difficult with unreliable land and cellular lines, which are critically important to coordinate and direct a massive response such as this.
• The overall security situation is tense. Police, fire response and medical teams are overwhelmed and. Food and water supplies are limited, contributing to people’s anxiety. 
•  It is heart-breaking for a humanitarian organization like the Red Cross to see people in need and not be able to get to them, but we are doing everything humanly possible and we will keep you updated as to our progress.  

What is the Red Cross presence in Haiti?

• The American Red Cross has a 15-person office in Haiti focused year-round on HIV/AIDS education, malaria prevention, measles vaccinations and disaster preparedness. While our headquarters was destroyed, our people are safe and responding to survivors’ needs.
• The local Red Cross has been meeting humanitarian needs in Haiti since 1932 and specializes in providing first aid, disaster preparedness education and ambulance services. The Haitian Red Cross has hundreds of volunteers, although we fear many of them may have been lost in the earthquake. 
•  At present, there are thousands of Red Cross workers, representing 30 countries, on the ground assisting with relief efforts in the affected region.

 How much money has the American Red Cross raised to date?

• Since the earthquake struck on Tuesday, the American Red Cross has raised nearly $60 million (as of Friday afternoon) - and we know we are going to spend much more than that to help the people of Haiti.
• More than half of the donations have been through online contributions, with $10 million pledged through record-breaking mobile giving and strong support as well from corporations. This record-breaking generosity will help thousands of survivors cope with and recover from their losses.
• The American people have responded with incredible generosity to the people of Haiti, and donations have exceeded the total amounts received in the first 48 hours of both Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
• Nearly two-thirds of the money pledged so far is for Haiti Relief and Development, and about one-third has been committed to the Red Cross International Response Fund, which is used to support disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti and the recent typhoons in Asia, as well as forgotten disasters such as the current drought in Africa.

 What happens to a donation after it’s made; how does it get to Haiti?

• When a donation comes to the American Red Cross, through any of the various channels, our efforts are twofold. We want to confirm donor intent and we want to ensure that the donation gets deposited to the bank.
• Our first step is to code the donation in our donor database so that we are able to track it throughout the financial system. The donation then moves to what is, essentially, the master Red Cross bank account. There are not separate accounts for individual funds. 
•  In most disaster situations, particularly domestic ones, we spend money faster than it comes in so we do much of our purchasing through lines of credit.
• In response to the Haiti earthquake, donations are coming in faster than the spend rate. As the response unfolds, we assess the needs and manage our spending against the funds we that have been pledged and received.