TED Blog: The Haiti tragedy: How you can help

Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Numerous members of the TED community have sought to find a way to help victims of the Haiti quake. We believe one of the organizations best placed to make an immediate difference is Partners in Health. They have operated medical facilities in Haiti for more than two decades and have numerous people on the ground. (We had the honor of working with them as part of President Clinton’s TED Prize wish. They’re trustable and effective.)

We asked how best the TED community could help and this was their response. Do join us in making a donation here.

• Help us track down helicopters! That’s our #1 need right now is transport. There are thousands of badly injured ppl in Port-au-Prince, and there are PIH hospitals, supplies and teams standing ready to treat them in the central plateau. It’s a long, difficult drive over uncertain roads — OR a 10-min helo ride.
• Satellite phones! Cell communications are mostly down and we can’t send docs out into PAP with no way to be in touch
• Donate medicine, food, blankets, supplies … anyone with in-kind products to donate can write to procurement@pih.org
• Lend your time and skills — we need experienced trauma surgeons, pediatric trauma surgeons, burn specialists, nurse anesthetists, trauma nurses
• We need solar chargers, generators, fuel for generators
• Water purification that does not require electricity — so massive quanitities of water purification tablets or a system that is standalone
• Transport — we have had a few offers of private planes plus a big Air Canada jet — we are filling them with doctors and supplies and mobilizing
• Donate at http://www.pih.org/home.html.

— Chris Anderson, TED Curator