emergency response

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Puerto Rico’s Double Whammy: Irma and Hedge Funds

David Dayen | The American Prospect | September 8, 2017

Irma, the largest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, has proven cruelly fickle as it surges through the Caribbean. The Category Five storm “hit like a bomb” on the small islands of Barbuda and St. Martin, destroying up to 95 percent of the structures and rendering the areas “barely habitable.” But Irma stayed north of Puerto Rico, sparing the island from the worst. That’s not to say that Puerto Rico didn’t sustain damage...

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Social Engagement Shouldn't Wait Until After A Crisis Hits

Joseph Marks | Nextgov | July 9, 2013

One of the greatest challenges social media emergency managers face is that the public isn’t very interested in hearing from them unless and until a disaster strikes, they told lawmakers on Tuesday. Read More »

The Race To Contain West Africa's Ebola Outbreak

Liat Clark | Wired | April 11, 2014

Digital volunteers are racing to map regions in West Africa where the Ebola virus, which has a 90 percent fatality rate, continues to spread Read More »

The Sequoia Project’s Emergency Preparedness Information Workgroup Publishes Health IT Pandemic Response Planning Recommendations - The Sequoia Project

Press Release | The Sequoia Project | February 28, 2022

The Sequoia Project’s Emergency Preparedness Information Workgroup (EPIW) today published Pandemic Response Insights and Recommendations, a free whitepaper for local, state, and federal emergency preparedness and public health officials and their partners. The workgroup, consisting of emergency preparedness, response, and public health experts, convened over several months to discuss gaps in current solutions. The workgroup recommended ways to make information more readily available to support a more robust and coordinated response to future emergencies.

The Storm Has Passed, But Puerto Rico’s Health Faces Prolonged Recovery

Carmen Heredia Rodriguez and Rachel Bluth | Kaiser Health News | October 16, 2017

As President Donald Trump signals impatience to wind down emergency aid to Puerto Rico, the challenges wrought by Hurricane Maria to the health of Puerto Ricans and the island’s fragile health system are in many ways just beginning. Three weeks after that direct hit, nearly four dozen deaths are associated with the storm. But the true toll on Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents is likely to involve sickness and loss of life that will only become apparent in the coming months and in indirect ways...

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Ushahidi Wins MacArthur Award: Changing The World One Map At A Time

Beth Kanter | Beth's Blog | February 28, 2013

Recognizing remarkable creativity and effectiveness by non-profits across the globe, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named 13 organizations as recipients of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Read More »

Using OpenStreetMap To Respond To Disasters Before They Happen

Ruth Suehle | OpenSource.com | January 9, 2014

Kate Chapman, executive director of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, gave Tuesday's keynote at Linux.conf.au about preparing and responding for disasters with the help of communities. Read More »

VA's Hurricane Relief Efforts Extend Beyond Veterans

Johnathon Clinkscales | American Legion | October 5, 2017

The American Legion met with VA leadership on Sept. 29 to learn what humanitarian aid VA is, and has been, providing to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas..."There are 60 civilian hospitals in Puerto Rico, many of which are still inoperative, don't have power or have serious damage. There's only one hospital that is like the beacon in Puerto Rico and that is the VA medical center - seeing people, taking care of everybody we can and feeding everybody we can."..."We did a lot of preparing and started sending stuff down there before the hurricane. Now we're using these resources to take care of non-veterans and civilians until the hospitals - that are either damaged, incapable of operating or we don't know the condition of - come back into the system and then we'll transfer them. It is certainly necessary for a humanitarian effort like this," Loren said...

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Wagner Foundation Donates $15 Million to Partners In Health for Hi Tech Healthcare Projects

Press Release | Wagner Foundation | August 1, 2018

The Wagner Foundation, a private Boston-based foundation, announced today that it is supporting international medical charity Partners In Health with a $15 million grant. The award represents the largest donation to any entity in the Wagner Foundation’s 13-year history, and will enable Partners In Health to launch a groundbreaking initiative to improve the health of impoverished people, especially women and children, in 10 countries around the world....By supporting data infrastructure and expertise, Partners In Health and the Wagner Foundation are also eager to show that long-term investments in public healthcare systems, not just disaster or emergency responses, produce the best outcomes for patients, families, and communities.

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What Puerto Rico’s Death Toll from Hurricane Maria Really Tells Us

Nicolette Louissaint | The Hill | September 7, 2018

The recently released report from the Milken Institute is perhaps the strongest rebuke to date on the impact of Hurricane Maria during the 2017 hurricane season. The report notes nearly 3,000 people have died in Puerto Rico because of the storm. These numbers provide a more accurate depiction of the devastation and lives lost in Puerto Rico. While sad and troubling, it is important to call out that these updated numbers do not even account for the death toll in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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