Direct Relief is providing Tetanus and flu vaccines and coordinating recovery efforts with partner nonprofit clinics and health centers in areas of Louisiana and Alabama affected by Hurricane Isaac.

The vaccines are provided at the request of St. Charles Community Health Center and EXCELth Family Health Center in Louisiana to protect residents displaced by the storm or engaging in cleanup activities. EXCELth is scheduled to receive two additional shipments of medicine and supplies valued at $170,000. Direct Relief’s Emergency Team is also coordinating with City Action Partnership in Birmingham, Alabama, which is working to support several shelters and facilities throughout the city.

Since Isaac formed in the Caribbean two weeks ago, Direct Relief’s Emergency Response Team has been in close contact with clinic partners along the Gulf Coast, monitoring changing circumstances and health needs and offering its emergency supply of medicine and medical resources to hurricane-affected areas.

As residents continue to return, preliminary reports indicate that Hurricane Isaac damaged more than 13,000 homes according to the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

In advance of hurricane season, Direct Relief equipped 50 clinic partners in hurricane-prone regions of the U.S. with hurricane preparedness packs, which contain enough medicine and medical supplies to treat up to 100 people for three to five days. Three partners in Isaac’s path utilized their hurricane preparedness packs over the past week to serve patients in their communities.

Direct Relief’s Hurricane Preparedness program—the largest effort of its kind in the U.S.—is a million-dollar initiative that pre-positions large quantities of medicines and supplies at nonprofit health centers, clinics, and hospitals in at-risk areas so the materials are immediately available during emergencies such as Hurricane Isaac. The pre-positioning of these medical resources is a key component of Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness efforts and ongoing assistance to partner clinics to facilitate a fast, efficient response when a disaster strikes.

Direct Relief would like to thank the following companies for their support: 3M, Abbott, Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Allergan, Inc., Ansell Healthcare, AstraZeneca, Baxter International Inc., Belmora LLC, BD, Boehringer Ingelheim Cares, C.R. Bard Medical Division, Chattem Inc., Covidien, Eli Lilly & Company, FirstLine Gloves, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, GSMS Incorporated, Henry Schein, Inc., Honeywell Products, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, McKesson Medical Surgical, Inc., Medline Industries, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Microflex, Mylan Laboratories Inc., Omron Healthcare, Inc., P&G, Pfizer, Inc., Plak Smacker, Rye Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Sanofi US.