×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

With Fires Raging Just Miles Away, Health Facilities Step Up for Patients

Families Together of Orange County and Lestonnac Free Clinic, both several miles from the Silverado Fire, are working to serve patients displaced by blazes.

News

Wildfires

Direct Relief delivery of medical supplies, personal hygiene kits, and a generator to Families Together, a nonprofit clinic in Tustin, Calif., during local wildfires on October 28, 2020. (Noah Smith/ Direct Relief)

TUSTIN, Calif — Firefighters in Southern California made major advances in containing the Silverado and Blue Ridge Fires yesterday, bringing containment of the blazes to 32% and 23%, respectively, by the end of the day — up from the single digits on Tuesday.

The fires, which have burned more than 27,700 acres mostly in Orange County, have not destroyed any homes, but have led to polluted air. On Monday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District rated air quality throughout Orange County as “hazardous.”

The polluted air has led to upticks in calls and requests for Covid-19 tests by patients at community health centers in the area, according to Izabella Sahakian, operations manager at Families Together, which runs two nonprofit health centers in Orange County. The clinic’s Tustin location is about seven miles away from the edge of the Silverado Fire.

“Patients are calling because they’re having a hard time breathing. They can’t tell if its anxiety, they’re getting shortness of breath, they’re getting a cough, they’re panicking. So, we’ve been doing a lot of telehealth visits with our providers,” Sahakian told Direct Relief.

“Covid complicates things by patients panicking because they can’t tell the difference when they’re getting shortness of breath: is it the forest fire or is it Covid or is it respiratory infection?” she said.

Direct Relief delivery of medical supplies, personal hygiene kits, and a generator to Families Together, a nonprofit clinic in Tustin, Calif., during local wildfires on October 28, 2020. (Noah Smith/ Direct Relief)
Direct Relief delivery of medical supplies, personal hygiene kits, and a generator to Families Together, a nonprofit health center in Tustin, Calif., during local wildfires on October 28, 2020. (Noah Smith/Direct Relief)

Sahakian said patients have also been calling to seek refills of medication, which the clinic is helping to fill. The staff is maintaining operations while several staff members are out of the office, as they have either been evacuated or are helping relatives look after their homes. “Everyone is helping answer phones,” Sahakian said. “We’re doing the best we can.”

Families Together is further supporting their community by setting up their mobile units at local evacuation shelters and homeless shelters to offer clinical services and flu shots as well as to distribute items such as children’s medications, over the counter medications, personal hygiene kits, pulse oximeters, and masks that were delivered by Direct Relief’s Emergency Response Team yesterday. The team also delivered a donated generator which will help power the mobile units.

Should the clinic lose power in the future, the generator can also help preserve vaccines and medications that need to be cooled as well as maintain computer access to medical records.

Direct Relief delivery of medical supplies, personal hygiene kits, and a generator to Families Together, a nonprofit clinic in Tustin, Calif., during local wildfires on October 28, 2020. (Noah Smith/ Direct Relief)
Among the items delivered to Families Together was a portable generator for the health center to use as back-up power. (Noah Smith/Direct Relief)

Though winds had blown the worst of the smoke away from the clinic and its neighborhood on Wednesday, leading to blue skies, small pieces of white ash continued to fall and the air quality was rated as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

On Tuesday, Direct Relief delivered requested supplies to Lestonnac Free Clinic in the City of Orange, which only serves uninsured patients. The clinic is based about eight miles away from the Silverado Fire. Included in the delivery was a remote video and audio interface that will allow the clinic’s 300 volunteer doctors to treat patients across the state.

Shipments of medical aid arrive on Oct. 27, 2020,at Lestonnac Free Clinic, located about five miles from where the Silverado Fire is burning in Orange County. Direct Relief delivered 30,000 masks to the clinic, which serves uninsured patients without ability to pay, as well as six oxygen concentrators and other requested medical aid. (Cydney Justman/Direct Relief)
A telehealth unit arrives at Lestonnac Free Clinic on Tuesday. (Cydney Justman/Direct Relief)

“We’re able to provide all the different doctors you can imagine at a location that needs the help,” said Edward Gerber, executive director of the clinic. Gerber said he hoped to add this remote capability prior to the pandemic, due to long-standing challenges of getting specialists doctors to more remote parts of the state, especially during a crisis.

These latest round of wildfires mark a continuation of a year that has seen record-setting blazes across the state, which have killed at least 30 people. The fires this years have burned over 4 million acres destroyed over 10,000 structures, according to Cal Fire.

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.