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.

We applaud the work of Télécoms Sans Frontières …

Their Origin: During missions responding to the crisis in the Balkans and in Kurdistan during the 1st Gulf War, Télécoms Sans Frontières’ (TSF) founders realized that, in addition to medical and food aid, there was a critical need for reliable emergency telecommunications services. Conflicts and emergencies often led to massive civilian displacement and separated families. And affected populations are often left with no communications infrastructure in place to find assistance and loved ones. To address this need, TSF bought its first satellite phone eleven years ago and the organization was born. For all missions today, TSF offers a 3-minute call to any affected family.

TSF soon found that the international response teams that deploy to emergencies also had a critical need for reliable telecommunications services in the first days after an emergency. TSF, therefore, expanded its operations, improved its technology, and began to establish rapidly deployable emergency telecommunications centers to serve UN, government, and NGO humanitarian workers, and developed a reputation for being among the first to arrive after disasters.

Mission Haiti 2010: Deployed in Haiti the day following the terrible earthquake that struck the country, TSF teams remain mobilized, day after day, supporting the humanitarian community and the affected population. Three calling centers have been established in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour and Jacmel that are open for the people of Haiti: Union School in Port-au-Prince, Adventistes in Carrefour and Rue Febrile in Jacmel.

Everyone should know more about the work of this organization!

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!

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The Miami Herald was not Connected

When asked in the early hours after the quake hit, on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” what The Miami Herald knew of the developing situation, their Carribean correspondent Jacquie Charles essentially said they didn’t know because they couldn’t connect with anyone there.

“Well, we’re still trying to get through because all the communications is down … We have people en route to Haiti right now and we also have a ‘stringer’ on the ground, but because the communications are all down, we cannot get through to anyone at this moment.”

Blitzer responded with, “That’s the problem. Communications are really hard. It’s almost impossible, in fact, to establish communications…”

The Red Cross was not Connected

The Red Cross there had no way to communicate off the island (as of 6:45 PM Eastern). CNN reporter Deborah Feyerick reported that the Red Cross had three people in the Port au Prince area, but:

“[American Red Cross officials in the U.S.] cannot get in touch with them. They’re trying both the landlines obviously … I asked about cell phones. They’re looking into that right now.”

Why is this Still Happening?

Why? Why — after so much time has passed since 9/11, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Katrina — that the media and key relief agencies still find themselves scratching their heads trying to communicate in times of crisis? How can anyone possibly know how people are doing and what they need if we have no way to connect with them?

Did CNN think to ask the Red Cross why they didn’t have a satellite communication backup for a time like this? Is it breaking news somehow that landlines fail and cell service dies when a disaster strikes?

Did you know that portable satellite communications solutions exist today for expressly these circumstances?  Not only do they provide voice services when all other networks fail — but also Internet access — so the media and relief agencies can report on the situation and call for help. And some (such as OODAkits) also come with multiple ways to access power (including solar), because power is usually the first to go.

We are in the process of trying to help as we speak!