NCVO members among first to help after Haiti earthquake

NCVO member ShelterBox, the fast response international aid charity, was among the first organisations to put up aid tents in Haiti after devastating earthquakes left over 200,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless in the impoverished Caribbean country.

The ShelterBox tents are being used by hospitals in Port au Prince to provide emergency shelter for post surgery patients in the Haitian capital.

Donations are collected in the UK and are then turned into aid boxes each of which supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless.

So far more than 3,000 boxes have been committed to Haiti as the British public reacts to the horrific scenes coming from the island.

The ShelterBox Response Team in Haiti is facing huge challenges on a daily basis and were hit by the large aftershocks that struck the country yesterday. The team report they are all ok.

ShelterBox Response Team member Mark Pearson, who has been in Port au Prince since Thursday, said: ‘The first tents are being used by Bernard Mews hospital in Port au Prince. The tents have been immediately put into use by doctors for post surgery patients.

‘The doctors are desperate for all our equipment. The hospital has no electricity, no food, no running water. The injured are constantly coming in with untreated injuries.'

Doctors fear the number of people needing amputations could spiral into the thousands. Amputations are having to be carried out to free people from rubble, to prevent the spread of gangrene and when all attempts to save a severely damaged limb fail.

‘We’re planning to distribute more ShelterBoxes for emergency medical cases and hospital use today,’ said Response Team member Lasse Petersen.

‘We’re working closely with the UN, ACTED, Rotarians and Haitian authorities to gauge resources and priority needs.

‘We’ll be investigating a major distribution area which at the moment is likely to be Leogane where the epicentre of the earthquake was. The scale of destruction here is even worse than in Port au Prince and there’s an estimated hundred thousand people in need of emergency shelter.’

Another NCVO member Merlin, which helps support health services under pressure, says it's been humbled by the scale of the public's support.

Paula Sansom, Merlin's Emergency Response Coordinator, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the UK public, as well as trusts, foundations and private companies.

"We are working hard in Haiti to save as many lives as we can, and this would not have been possible without the generous support.

"Our medical expertise remains in high demand in Haiti and more funds are still desperately needed.

"We have already delivered 4,800kgs of medical equipment to Haiti, and our specialist team of doctors, nurses and surgeons are treating patients to help meet the massive needs.

"All donations, no matter how seemingly small, are making a big difference."

To Donate to Shelterbox go to http://www.shelterbox.org/
To Donate to Merlin go to http://www.merlin.org.uk/