Megan Streng

503-624-1022
mstreng@medicalteams.org

6 Month After Haiti Earthquake, Medical Teams International Remains Committed

Emphasis on Trauma Counseling and Prosthetics

(PORTLAND, Ore., July 12, 2010)— Six months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Medical
Teams International remains committed to working toward recovery. Targeting their efforts on
trauma counseling and prosthetics, Medical Teams International will help those who have been left
physically and emotionally disabled by the earthquake.
“The situation really hasn't changed much,” said Bas Vanderzalm, president of Medical Teams
International. Vanderzalm is currently in Haiti and said “the people in those camps are still
struggling."
Rehabilitation and Prosthetics - Dr. June Hanks will manage rehabilitation and prosthetics work
called “the Advantage Program” in Les Cayes, where more than 88,000 Haitians have moved from
Port-au-Prince.

For the next two years, Advantage Program staff will:

• Provide Haitian-made prosthetics, equipment, rehabilitation and emotional support to people with
disabilities.
• Conduct seminars and training sessions with community leaders, teachers and pastors to help raise
awareness and increase support for the disabled communities.
• Improve the quality of life of people with disabilities at the community and government levels.

Locally-Based Staff - To help transition from relief to recovery, Medical Teams International has
established a presence in Haiti. This team of Haitian and non-Haitian staff continues to funnel
lifesaving care and long-term help to families in Haiti.

Six-Month Impact - In the past six months, Medical Teams International sent 18 volunteer teams -
the first one arriving only three days after the disaster. In total, 109 doctors, nurses and other health
professionals have been sent to work in Port-au-Prince, Leogane, Les Cayes and Carrefour.

More than $5 million worth of supplies and medicines have been distributed to local hospitals and
survivors living in tent cities to benefit more than 186,000 earthquake survivors.

The earthquake damaged many health care facilities in the affected areas. Medical Teams
International met the needs of those who were injured and ill by:

• Deploying mobile medical units to various tent cities and rural communities serving nearly 23,000
people.
• Supporting Quisqueya Crisis Relief through funding, medical staff, medicines and supplies.
• Supplementing hospitals with medical staff, supplies, medicines and emergency orthopedic
 surgeries.
• Transporting critically ill and injured people to the U.S. for lifesaving treatment.

Medical Teams International received overwhelming support from individual and corporate donors.
To date, more than $4.6 million dollars in cash has been raised for the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
More than $5 million in medicines and medical supplies have been shipped to Haiti. Donations are
accepted online at www.medicalteams.org/haiti or by texting HOPE to 253-83 for a $10 gift.