Smart preparation is the best defense when a hurricane strikes. Since 2007, Direct Relief has provided partner health facilities with no-cost medicines and medical supplies to improve their ability to treat uninsured patients. This program encompasses over 40 facilities in the U.S. Gulf States and 10 facilities in hurricane-prone regions of Latin America and the Caribbean.
See Direct Relief's interactive Hurricane Preparedness map
Select partner health facilities in hurricane zones receive preparedness packs before the storm season starts June 1. Pre-positioning the packs at clinics and hospitals before a hurricane strikes eliminates delivery delays and equips medical professionals with the materials to treat injured patients on-site.
Hurricanes pose an annual threat to people living around the Gulf of Mexico, in Central America, and in the Caribbean. Individuals who are low-income, have chronic medical conditions, or have limited access to transportation to evacuate are at a higher risk for needing medical assistance. In times of emergency, clinics are underequipped to handle the large influx of patients.
The contents of the pack were originally determined as part of Direct Relief’s participation on the Texas Blue Ribbon Commission on Emergency Preparedness and Response following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The preparedness packs include medicines and supplies to treat a variety of conditions, from trauma injuries to chronic conditions. Each year, experience and feedback from partners is used to improve the contents and packaging of the pack.
The versatile materials in the hurricane packs can also be life-saving during other types of emergencies, as demonstrated during the Haiti Cholera Outbreak in 2010.
Direct Relief is able to supply these preparedness materials only with the generous donations of several pharmaceutical and medical material corporations.
Any contents remaining after the hurricane season, ending November 30, are absorbed into clinic inventories to assure that the resources are used and benefit their uninsured patient populations.
In the United States:
- Each U.S. Hurricane Prep Pack contains $12,000 (wholesale) of medicines and supplies to treat 100 patients for three to five days.
- Designed to be mobile, the packs are easily transported should a medical facility have to set up temporary operations offsite.
- Clinics in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida have received Hurricane Prep Packs in previous years.
In Latin America and the Caribbean:
- Each International Hurricane Prep Pack contains almost $50,000 (wholesale) of medicines and supplies to treat about 5,000 people for one month. This positioning ensures that facilities are equipped to care for their patients in those first critical hours and days after a hurricane strikes, and don’t have to wait for additional aid shipments, which are often delayed by logistical challenges.
- Hurricane Preparedness Packs have been positioned in Haiti, El Salvador, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Direct Relief plans to continue the expansion of the program, working to develop new partnerships with healthcare facilities in states along the Atlantic Seaboard and countries vulnerable to hurricanes.