Haiti Relief Mission - Update 01-15-2010
Once again, the H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 membership has demonstrated the “can do” spirit that has defined us since our inception and was the impetus for our organizing. The response has been overwhelming and the H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 Executive Board thanks you all. As we watch the video reports emanating from Haiti, we are moved to action. The pictures of helpless family members camped in front of a pile of debris, which hides their loved ones, bring us back to images from our own recent past. But there are times when good intentions and the overwhelming desire to “do something” is an impediment to the first line professional Search & Rescue teams and ultimately hurts those we want to help. Our colleagues of NYTF-1 are on the ground and our federal friends stationed in the Dominican Republic are reporting that a mountain of supplies without a delivery strategy will soon strangle supply lines. Groups arriving without authorization or mission orders will siphon resources without providing necessary services and will burden the already stressed response community.
H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 members are critical incident response experts and we will respond when our services are requested and the mission defined. We will be guided by the first rules of emergency response, do no further harm, don’t add to the chaos be part of the solution not the problem. The tragedy in Haiti regrettably will be with us for many weeks and months to come; H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 will respond and will make a difference. Drawing from our experiences in dealing with such a cataclysmic situation, we have developed a unique overview of the coordinated and sustained effort that is needed to respond to such a crisis event.
The H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 Executive Board understands that our membership wants to somehow make things better for the Haitian community. You CAN help the victims of this unimaginable devastation in a practical and meaningful way by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to make a contribution to H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 and become part of our team. Please direct them to WWW.HEART911.ORG and click on Donate or send checks payable to: HEART 9/11 at 614 Frelinghuysen Ave. Newark, NJ 07114.
Please, as you pray for the earthquake victims and their families, keep our NYTF-1 friends and all the first responders in your thoughts.
The Staff at H.E.A.R.T. 9/11
|
|
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Deployment/Missions, News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.