A message from one of our major sponsors/supporter regarding Hurricane Sandy. Dear Ralph,
As Hurricane Sandy moves inland, the Direct Relief team is coordinating with local and national organizations that are engaged in the response efforts. If you would like to support these efforts, please click here. Direct Relief is the only nonprofit licensed to distribute prescription medications in all 50 states and h a vast emergency preparedness and response program in place with over 1000 nonprofit clinics and health centers nationwide. We have been particularly concerned about the health crises that can arise in large-scale evacuations when people flee their residences without their support medications. Because of the huge geographic area and population potentially affected by the storm -- an estimated 60 million people – a key priority for Direct Relief is to identify people and communities that are most at risk. We are working with technology partners at Palantir to assess needs, determine likely emergency scenarios, and mount a targeted response for health clinic partners in the path of the storm. Palantir specializes in data integration, visualization and analysis tools that allow Direct Relief to pull together massive amounts of information sources into a common framework to visualize, plan for, and manage complex emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy. A critical component of this work is to understand social vulnerability: who is at risk, where, and why. Extensive research and Direct Relief’s own long experience has shown that not everyone within a hurricane’s path is equally at risk and, in many instances, those who are most vulnerable and often cannot easily evacuate are those people at age extremes (young and old), those with low incomes, members of minority populations that do not receive essential information in a manner they understand, and those with special health or medical needs. Palantir’s powerful tools help us ensure the right support is devoted to the right places. While transportation and logistics are obviously affected by this storm, we were heartened by FedEx offering its full support to any efforts that are needed and also to have a number of large corporate supporters step up and offer help and medical products that may be necessary – Abbott, BD, and Johnson & Johnson were among the many other companies that have done so. The Emergency Response team has connected with the national director of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and emergency coordinators of the national associations of nonprofit community health centers and free and charitable clinics. Please view our interactive map to stay abreast of Direct Relief’s response to Hurricane Sandy. It shows all of our partners and also has a live feed of the storm’s path and various other sources of information consolidated into one map. The Direct Relief team will continue our ongoing efforts and send our personal thoughts and best wishes for those who are in the path of this exceptionally large storm. Thank you. Connect with Direct Relief on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @directreliefChange your email preferences nonprofit software |
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February 2016
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