OODAlink » Disaster Response for Haiti Earthquake

Haiti Relief News Conference with US Response Leaders

Nancy Harvey — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:41:47 +0000

February 17, 2010 | USAID Joint Task Force News Conference on CSPAN

Ambassador Lewis Lucke and Army Lt. General P.K. Keen, leading the U.S. relief efforts in Haiti, say significant progress has been made by cooperating with a number of international response partners, but much work remains.

Transitioning into the relief phase now, the focus will be on providing shelter, sanitation, rubble removal, reconstruction, medical services, and jobs.

Ambassador Lucke is the former US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland, served the US Agency for International Development for over 30 years and is the Haiti US Response Coordinator.

Army Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen is the Deputy Commander of US Southern Command in Miami and is currently serving as the Commander of Joint Task Force Unified Response in Haiti.

Disaster Strikes When You Least Expect It

Jeff Jacobson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:37:34 +0000

The nightmare in Haiti once again hammers home this age-old axiom.

How many more people will die in the future because of our complacency – in this country and elsewhere?

How many times do we have to witness such disasters only to find that once again lack of communications is the greatest hindrance to rapid and accurate assessment of the impact? How many people could have been saved if communications were available to quickly obtain accurate situational awareness and better coordinate the resources for search and rescue?

We’ve heard over and over again from the media, “The lack of communications in Haiti is preventing … ”

Many have spent years working diligently to ensure that communities and organizations can communicate when disaster strikes. However, conflicting priorities and budget constraints have postponed spending in this area – yielding late-night pleas for communications gear in the immediate aftermath of each new disaster.

Another painful reminder that such communications cannot be an afterthought if we want to minimize loss of life among the victims!

Special Rates on Satellite Phones for Haiti Response

Nancy Harvey — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:44:20 +0000

Iridium 9555 satellite phones with discounted airtime rates for Haiti response teams.

For organizations responding to the earthquake in Haiti, we can off the following discounted rates. Order by 3:00 PM Eastern for same-day shipping.

Iridium 9555 to Buy - $1,995 with 500-minute bundle
Iridium 9555 to Rent - $295/week + airtime (2-week minimum)

Other airtime options are available. Contact us to order or for more details.

More details on the phone: Iridium 9555.