Santa Barbara-based non-profit Direct Relief is providing humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria after the devastating earthquakes last week. The death toll from the disaster has surpassed 20,000 with many more injured and displaced from their homes.
The organization is sending millions of dollars in support for search and rescue operations, as well as ongoing shipments of medical supplies to the region.
About 30 pallets of medical aid have already left the Santa Barbara warehouse. Tony Morain is Vice President of Communications for Direct Relief.
“The shipments included a range of requested items including antibiotics, medic packs, antihistamines, wound care items,” Morain said.
The medic packs enable first responders to treat injuries in the field. With thousands of people injured and displaced from their homes, Morain says secondary infections can arise from wounds and lacerations if medical care is not readily available.
Direct Relief’s Dan Hovey is traveling to the region to help with logistics. He’s the organization’s director of emergency response.
“Coordinating that last mile of logistics is kind of my background. I’ve been on the ground in response to natural disasters many times over the last 8 or 9 years,” Hovey said.
He said getting medical aid to earthquake survivors in war-torn Syria presents a challenge due to a lack of infrastructure and harsh winter weather. And without a working commercial airport, he said medical supplies for Syria must also travel through Turkey.
“The issues in Syria extend way beyond just the earthquake, they’ve been dealing with a decade of civil war, they’re dealing with an ongoing cholera outbreak which is a major worry right now,” he said.
Hovey plans to stay in the region for about 10 days to meet with government agencies and local partner organizations. He said he’ll check on the shipments and help to get the medical supplies out of the airport and delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible.
You can find updates on direct relief.org.
