Air Cargo Help Rushes To Haiti
 (Update
Wednesday January 13, 2100 hrs. NYC)—The Port au Prince International
Airport in Haiti’s capital is operational as aid starts arriving,
although makeshift ATC is ramping up as the control tower is out.
The main terminal took some damage and
is also off limits as this is written.
U.S. State Department, meanwhile, has
set up a number for U.S. citizens seeking information about family members
in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747.
The first three U.S. rescue teams departed
Wednesday for Haiti to help the Caribbean nation cope with its most
devastating earthquake in 200 years.
Worldwide relief to Haiti taking shape will be led by USA that reportedly
will set up infrastructure and act as a clearing house to the overall
effort.
Because so many U.S. Army military personnel
are on station in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Navy is stepping up
to bring both relief and a military presence to assist recovery and
control in Haiti, an effort that will include both U.S.
Marines on the ground there and several ships including the aircraft
carrier Carl Vinson that will be outfitted with helicopters and carry
in massive amounts of relief supplies.
A major number of U.S. Navy ships have
been told to sail to Haiti.
U.S. Navy sailors, the U.S. Coast Guard
and rescue teams including several with sniffer dogs are among the first
responders working to save lives amid the rubble.
 On
Wednesday four U.S. Coast Guard ships departed Miami, bound for Haiti
equipped with helicopters ready for rescue while bringing in life saving
equipment including water desalination equipment.
The U.S. Navy Hospital Ship “Comfort”
now in Baltimore is also said to be readying a trip to Haiti.
But with a total bed capacity of 1,000
set against a reported death toll of 100,000, and many tens of thousands
injured and hanging on to life-expect the vast work of U.S. Navy and
medical teams including Doctors Without Borders and others to be conducted
at field hospitals to be brought in and set up all over the country.
The world wide Internet is a vital tool
at work in Haiti.
Although the full impact of the social
networks is yet to be measured there is no question that when everything
including the lights went out in Haiti a little over 24 hours ago it
was You Tube and Twitter and Facebook that got the news out and connected
people around the world at once with news and pictures of the disaster,
several hours before any organized efforts began.
 Also
as the giant humanitarian effort unfolds globally to assist Haiti we
can only wonder if the breakthrough logistics efforts of The Fritz Institute
based in San Francisco will come into play.
Fritz Institute is an organization created
by an ex-USA based freight forwarder Lynn Fritz who some years back
sold his company Fritz Airfreight for all the money and then went to
work developing logistics for humanitarian efforts worldwide.
In 2007 Fritz unveiled HELIOS, a software
platform solution created by the institute and humanitarian organizations
that is provided free of charge to manage the delivery of relief supplies
quickly to where they are really needed.
Although he could not have imagined a
disaster of this magnitude, real-time, easily available web-based information
that allows for effective collaboration and coordination under complex
and often dangerous conditions is at hand to help in Haiti.
"Our research confirmed that 80%
of successful disaster relief effort is in the logistics.
“Only about 25 percent of agencies
surveyed immediately after the 2004 South Asia tsunami, had systems
in place to manage goods and supplies that poured in from over 40 countries.
"The majority of field logisticians
still use spreadsheets or, equally likely, a pencil and paper to manage
incoming supplies during and after a disaster.”
UNICEF is moving supplies into Haiti authorizing
nearly $2.9 million in funding for start-up relief operations.
Air cargo flights with UNICEF supplies
are underway in cooperation with the International Federation of the
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and DHL, who has retasked freighters
to transport the first wave of essential supplies from UNICEF's regional
office in Panama.
In a related move Germany said today it
is committing an initial one million euros to aid in the Haiti relief
effort.
Elsewhere Air Cargo News FlyingTypers
learned that SWISS had donated a plane that is to be tasked to move
relief supplies from Europe as part of organized efforts involving both
the airline and Lufthansa Charter.
Anyone wanting to contribute monies to
help Haitians in this hour of maximum need is encouraged to contact
The Red Cross
Also if you are involved in getting help
to Haiti write to me geoffrey@aircargonews.com
and we will get the word out.
Geoffrey
For donations to the relief effort in Haiti via
The Red Cross call 1-800-REDCROSS or click
here. Also through The Red Cross send a $10 Donation
by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999.
For The Salvation Army click
here.
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