Essential medications and supplies needed to support patient care after devastating Hurricane Melissa arrived today in Jamaica, thanks to coordination between the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, and Direct Relief.

Medical support arrived in Kingston, and the shipment contained a Direct Relief hurricane preparedness pack, a module containing critical medications, including antibiotics, wound care supplies, chronic disease management medication, protective gear, and more. The packs are staged in hurricane-prone areas across the Caribbean and U.S. Gulf Coast to support patient care if supply lines are damaged.

The pack contains enough medications to sustain care for up to 3,000 patients for 30 days. Monday’s shipment also included 10 Direct Relief field medic packs to Jamaica to aid in response efforts. The packs are specifically designed to equip first responders with medical essentials for triage care.

The shipment will be distributed by Jamaica’s Ministry of Health, which supports public health facilities in Jamaica, including hospitals and primary care clinics.

The shipment was dispatched from PAHO’s regional strategic stockpile in Panama and will be distributed to medical facilities serving patients. The infusion of support from Direct Relief is one in a series of air support shipments that have arrived or will continue to arrive in the country to support health services after Hurricane Melissa devastated portions of the island last month.

Direct Relief has worked with the Pan American Health Organization since 2018, to provide regional support to medical organizations in the Americas, including Caribbean countries, and will continue to assist with emergency response efforts in the region.