International Relief Teams - Katrina

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International Relief Teams (IRT) – Hurricane Katrina

International Relief Teams (IRT) is helping the victims of what many are referring to as "America's Tsunami" - Hurricane Katrina.

IRT's 30-person volunteer Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) arrived at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong airport within 48 hours after the disaster. They worked day and night for nearly two weeks treating between 800-1,000 hurricane evacuees a day -- those being rescued by boats and helicopters from the flooded city.

IRT also delivered more than $160,000 in medicines and supplies to hospitals and medical centers in critical need of re-supply in St. Charles and Jefferson parishes near New Orleans.

In Mississippi, IRT just sent its 6th team of medical volunteers to work in mobile/temporary clinics along the coast in southern Mississippi (right where the eye of the hurricane came ashore, and in an area still protected by the National Guard). The following text is from the on-site coordinator (a member of the local Baptist Church) for the clinics in Mississippi:

The patients we see are mainly the poor and homeless. The local medical infrastructure was serving this segment of the population very poorly before Katrina. Mississippi has one of the worst Medicare/Medicaid programs in the nation. Many are excluded who have a low-income level and are unable to afford medical care and medicines especially. These people were very hard hit by the loss of the only doctor they knew due to their offices being destroyed. We hear over and over that they didn't know where else to turn to. There is also a substantial population of people who come to work on the huge home rebuilding going on, but they are living in tents and only surviving.

IRT is committed to providing medical personnel to the region since these volunteer medical teams are providing the only medical and health services these people have access to.

IRT will soon begin sending skilled volunteer construction teams to help poor and elderly homeowners, who do not have adequate insurance or other financial resources to repair or rebuild their homes on their own. Because of the extensive poverty in the region, rebuilding will be a massive effort that may go on for many years.

If you have construction skills (handyman or higher) and would like to be considered for a one-week deployment, please go to the IRT web site at: www.irteams.org and complete a volunteer application.

IRT's administrative overhead is less than 3% (audited statements can be found online at www.irteams.org), and for the second consecutive year, IRT has received the highest (4-star) rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charities. Only 5% of the more than 4,260 charities evaluated have ever been awarded the highest rating! (www.CharityNavigator.org)

Cash donations to support IRT's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts can be sent to:

International Relief Teams

Hurricane Katrina

3547 Camino del Rio South, Suite C

San Diego, CA 92108

or

online at IRT's secure website:

For more information about IRT or its programs, please contact:

Henri Migala

Director, International Health Programs

+(619) 284-7979