On Friday, 15 January 2010, the Finnish Red Cross has sent a mobile clinic to the earthquake zone in Haiti. A total of twelve aid workers have also been sent to Haiti to get the clinic up and running, and will then work in it. Eight of the aid workers are from Finland, two from Sweden and two from France.
Local healthcare professionals and volunteers from the Haitian Red Cross will also work at the clinic.
The clinic is being sent from the Finnish Red Cross logistics centre in Kalkku, Tampere. The operation is a cooperative effort of the FRC and the Red Cross Societies of France and Sweden.
The clinic is packed into 195 crates, which can be lifted and carried by people if no other means of transport is available. Everything that is needed to set up the clinic is packed into the crates, including equipment and medicines. Its 30 tents will provide treatment rooms, storage facilities and housing for the staff.
The mobile clinic will be used in areas where no other healthcare services are available. The clinic's tents will be set up wherever the clinic halts to provide first aid services. Patients in need of more advanced treatment will be sent to hospital.
Three SUVs [4x4 vehicles] will go to Haiti with the clinic and be used to transport it from one place to another. In total, the shipment weighs in at 14 tonnes.
Two Finnish Red Cross aid workers have already been sent to Haiti, where one of them will coordinate the aid shipments as they arrive. In addition, a disaster relief expert, who had been working in the Caribbean was immediately transferred to the relief effort in Haiti after the earthquake struck.
Disaster Relief Fund helps immediately
Immediately after the earthquake, employees and volunteers of the Haitian Red Cross began helping people trapped in collapsed buildings and giving first aid to those injured in the quake. They also started distributing emergency relief supplies.
The Finnish Red Cross immediately pledged EUR 200,000 from its Disaster Relief Fund to help the relief efforts. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has provided EUR 750,000 for the clinic to be sent to Haiti.
The quake disaster in Haiti has awakened the compassion of Finns. Red Cross volunteers have already taken to the streets to collect money for the relief effort. In their red vests, they are easy to spot in streets and shopping malls. Bright red collection boxes for the Red Cross have also appeared in shops and banks.
Thanks to the money that Finns donate to the Disaster Relief Fund, the Finnish Red Cross is ready to act immediately when help is needed.
The first shipments have arrived
International Red Cross experts are already on location in Haiti to assess specific needs for aid. The first aid shipments from several countries have already begun arriving in Haiti.
In addition to disaster relief supplies, the International Red Cross is providing healthcare services, shelters and clean water. It is also assisting in the work of identifying the dead and uniting families separated by the disaster.
You can help by making a donation by phone or directly to the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund bank account:
0600 12220 (EUR 19.95 per call + local area network charge)
0600 12210 (EUR 9.95 per call + local area network charge)
Disaster Relief Fund account number 221918-68000