Outpouring of Aid Follows Enormous Haiti Quake

Pledges for financial aid and rescue workers for Haiti are pouring in from around the globe, as aid organizations on the ground start to assess the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis left in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating quake.

Country assistance:

-The U.S. Agency for International Development is sending a Disaster Assistance Response Team to Haiti on Wednesday. Accompanying that effort are the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team and the Los Angeles County Search and Rescue Team. The effort includes 72 personnel, six search and rescue canines and up to 48 tons of rescue equipment.

-The Coast Guard has also dispatched cutters and aircraft Tuesday to positions close to Haiti.

-France is sending two planes with doctors, food and medical equipment: one from the Caribbean island of Martinique with 25 rescuers on board, and a second with 60 people from Marseille.

-Mexico, which has a history of deadly earthquakes, is sending a team of doctors and aid workers.

-Among the financial pledges are $4.3 million from Spain, Germany has released $2.18 million, the Netherlands $2.9 million, the European commission has offered $4.37 million and China has pledged $1 million.

–Rescue workers are also being dispatched from Venezuela, Britain, Iceland, Taiwan, Israel, Germany and the Netherlands, reported the Associated Press.

The United Nations:

–U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Wednesday the U.N. Central Emergency Relief Fund is releasing $10 million immediately for the response.

-The U.N. World Food Program is already deploying its resources in Haiti and is airlifting additional food supplies, enough for 500,000 emergency meals, from its emergency hub in El Salvador.

NGOs:

-The Red Cross Red Crescent has pre-positioned relief supplies in Haiti that will serve 3,000 families, including 500 in Port-au-Prince. Supplies include kitchen kits, personal hygiene kits, blankets and containers for storing drinking water.

-Doctors Without Borders had about 800 people in Haiti at the time of the quake and are bringing in another 70, according to Paul McPhun, the group’s operations manager for Haiti. The group’s trauma hospital in Port-au-Prince was heavily damaged and workers have been trying to set up temporary triage centers.

-Save the Children, which has an office in Port-au-Prince and has accounted for the safety of all but 16 staff members, is sending teams to the city by motorbike to assess damages and is flying in an additional team on Thursday.