ME&MEE

On January 17th, an EA USA team consisting of our head of Emergency Logistics, a Logistics Coordinator and a Registered Nurse arrived in the Dominican Republic to manage our assistance efforts on the ground. Over the next few days, this team will be coordinating travel arrangements for members seeking to leave Haiti and the Dominican Republic and providing medical assistance, basic toiletries and clothing for affected members. Additionally, they are equipped with an array of telecommunication devices to help members communicate with their families and loved ones in the US via phone, Internet or Skype access.

Following is an account from Richard Knight, our head of Emergency Logistics, of his immediate impressions from his first day coordinating assistance efforts for our members affected by the earthquake in Haiti.

Currently Santo Domingo is a hive of activity with regard to the rescue effort just over the border in Haiti.

There seem to be two types of people here, the ones who want out and……the ones who want in.
 
When I arrived at the Santa Domingo airport one of my immediate tasks was to locate some people coming in on a rescue flight. However due to one reason or another I ended up hanging around waiting for a flight that never materialized. After a few contacts were made to the security teams, it became clear that the designated people I was tasked to find were not going to arrive anytime soon. At this point I looked around and realized just what a strange situation I was standing in.
 
From looking around and doing a full 360 it began to register just how many different people from all around the globe were responding to this disaster and the bizarre, eclectic mix of characters standing around me. The scene was impressive. It was a mix of media crews, professional search and rescue team, medical teams, security teams, aid teams and various government organizations, all with one goal. We were the latter of the “two types of people” I referenced above – those who want in.

I  started making my way over to our Hotel HQ in order to properly assess the situation and get a handle on the people we had gotten out, those we needed to get out and also assess our response methods for over-border ground and air extraction methods should they be needed. I believed that upon getting to the hotel it would be a lot less impressive than the airport and the novelty would wear off. I was wrong.

As soon as I walked through the doors of our Hotel HQ it struck me as a scene not that dissimilar to the New York stock exchange but instead of buying and selling company stocks for financial gain or corporate takeovers, a different king of trading was taking place – the trading of rescue logistics.

Whether it was a camera crew trying to jump the border by getting a jeep and a local fixer to get them over, or a major aid team negotiating the use of a G5 to get their teams in, one fact became extremely clear at this moment in time – the world is responding in a big way. There are massive amounts of resources and personnel wanting to help the people of Haiti but ultimately the key factor that will make or break the way the world handles this disaster is the logistics. I was well at home.