Direct Relief International Using GIS Mapping to Coordinate Effective and Targeted Assistance in Haiti
January 14, 2010
Direct Relief is working with Google.org, UN-SPIDER (United Nations Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response), and ESRI (ArcGIS) to compile comprehensive GIS mapping tools for assessment of damage of health facilities, roads and public infrastructure in Haiti as a result of the recent earthquake. See the map in GoogleEarth here.
In conjunction with Abbott Fund, Direct Relief has distributed rapid HIV test kits to facilities across the country. Those facilities have been mapped and are being evaluated in conjunction with international agencies for public release to aid medical relief efforts.
Communication out of Haiti has been minimal in the days following the earthquake, so the ability to pinpoint levels of destruction of health facilities has been instrumental in assessing logistical routes and partner capacities. UN-SPIDER satellite images along with high-resolution GeoEye images posted by Google and constant feedback from our partners in the field have allowed Direct Relief to locate Direct Relief is using this information, along with updates from our partners in the field, to provide a targeted and effective response.
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.
University Hospital Justinian (UHJ) in Cap-Haitien, on Haiti's north coast, reported today that they expected to receive trauma cases airlifted from Port-au-Prince by MINUSTAH helicopter. UHJ is the second-largest hospital in Haiti and is one of the three partner facilities in Haiti that receives Direct Relief's pre-positioned emergency modules as well as ongoing support.
Direct Relief also has provided funding for a supply-chain manager at UHJ, who delivered the report earlier today and outlined the specific additional needs brought on by the emergency.
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.