Here’s a quick video I took at the end of Aneesh Chopra’s (the Federal CTO) talk at HIMSS. It’s a remarkable story of the role of SMS, tools and crowdsourcing in aiding in a disaster zone. A mash-up of the military, a silicon valley start-up called Crowdflower and creole speakers across the world.
Wanted: Surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel to help in Haiti
By
We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. As patients flood to our sites from Port-au-Prince, we’re finding ourselves in need of both medical personnel and supplies. In particular, we need surgeons (especially
trauma/orthopedic surgeons), ER doctors and nurses, and full surgical teams (including anesthesiologists, scrub and post-op nurses, and nurse anesthetists).
If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an email to volunteer@pih.org with information on your credentials, language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired), availability, and contact information.
As phone lines in Haiti remain down and transportation and communication are difficult, PIH is still in the process of determining where we can set up operations in Port-au-Prince, and how we can transport patients and volunteers to our sites. We will be able to offer more concrete information after these logistical matters are resolved.
Once again – thank you for your support. Kenbe fèm.
Related :
Become a Fan of Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). Here …
Visit the Haitian Earthquake Relief Facebook page. Here.
Reports of Disinformation spreading:
The report circulating on Twitter and Facebook claiming that American Airlines is flying medical teams to Haiti for free is a fabrication. The story seemed a little too good to be true to us, so we called American Airlines corporate headquarters in Dallas to look into it. The Airline says it is contributing to the relief effort through the American Red Cross, but says it is not flying doctors and nurses to Haiti.
The company sent us the following official statement:
“Our humanitarian flights out of San Juan to PAP continue again today. We’ve incentivized our 62 million AAdvantage members to give cash to Red Cross and receive bonus miles from us.
Last night’s hoax on Twitter about American and Jet Blue flying doctors and nurses to Haiti for free was just that — a hoax. We do not know who is responsible. We cannot fly any passenger flights to Haiti at this time (U.S. Military in control of airport) and our efforts on the humanitarian front are as described above. We do not yet know when we will be allowed to resume passenger flights.”
A similar story suggesting that the United Parcel Service is shipping packages under 50 pounds to Haiti for free is also fabricated. The company tells the Miami Tribune that is donating $1 million to the relief effort instead.
The moral for bloggers and other citizen journalists? Your seemingly harmless Tweet or Facebook posting is potentially a powerful weapon of mass disinformation. So stop and think for a second before you pull the trigger. Take a moment to consider the report you’re reposting before you pass it on. Does the story make sense? Is it logical? Or does it – well – sound just a little too good to be true? If the source provides contact information, do what a good reporter would do and call to check. (As it turns out, the number provided for American Airlines is actually for the Honduran Consulate in New York. American Airlines is based in Dallas.) Don’t simply assume that a story checks out because somebody you know said so.
Update: Surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel needed to help in Haiti
We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. At this time, while we wish we could use all of the support so generously offered, we are unable to accommodate any volunteers without significant surgical or trauma training and experience.
We are in need of: orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, OR nurses, post-op nurses, and surgical technicians.
If your qualifications match this need, please fill out the following form ..
