AmeriCares Relief Workers Ready for Hurricane Sandy

STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AmeriCares has emergency response teams on stand-by and a mobile clinic ready to be deployed as Hurricane Sandy batters the Northeast with punishing winds and storm surges up to 15 feet. As the arrival of the storm brought gusty winds and drenching rain to coastal Connecticut earlier today, relief workers loaded supplies onto a 40-foot mobile clinic that can serve as a temporary exam room and restore access to care should the storm knock out power to important health clinics in the region. The global health and disaster relief organization is also prepared to deliver medicines, first aid kits, bottled water, cleaning products, flashlights and shelter supplies to the hardest hit communities up and down the East Coast.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121029/DC02041 )

"With long-term power outages and major flooding expected from North Carolina to Massachusetts, we are ready to deliver medical aid and shelter supplies all across the East Coast," said Garrett Ingoglia, AmeriCares vice president of emergency response. "We've been in contact with more than 130 health clinics and partner organizations with offers of assistance and will help in any way we can."

AmeriCares has delivered medical relief and humanitarian assistance to millions affected by natural and man-made disasters worldwide for 30 years. In the past year alone, AmeriCares responded to several emergencies in the U.S. including Hurricane Isaac in Mississippi and Louisiana, tornadoes in Kentucky and Indiana and wildfires in Colorado. In 2011, in response to one of the worst tornado seasons in decades, AmeriCares delivered nearly $3 million in aid for disaster survivors all across the country.

When heavy rains and flooding force residents to be evacuated from their homes, AmeriCares delivers personal care items and bottled water to shelters and food banks assisting displaced families. The aid organization also delivers cleaning supplies to help families in the U.S. cleaning up storm damage, as well as medical aid for evacuees with chronic health problems forced to flee their homes without their prescription medicines.

To learn more about AmeriCares Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, or to make a donation, please go to americares.org. 

About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries. For more information, visit americares.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Donna Porstner: Cell (516) 607-1180
[email protected]

Leslie Gianelli: Cell (203) 988-0390
[email protected]

SOURCE AmeriCares