The Pulse

NOAA: Busy Hurricane Season Ahead

Hurricane season is just around the corner. That means it's time to look into the crystal ball and check out what weather forecasters are saying about the odds of a major hurricane.

First up to the plate was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which said today that it's going to be a busy storm season in the Atlantic this year: A strong possibility of 9-14 named storms, 4-7 of which could become hurricanes, including 1-3 becoming major hurricanes.

A tropical storm is named once it has sustained winds of 39 mph and it becomes a hurricane when it has sustained winds of 74 mph.

Major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 and 5 storms) have sustained winds of 111 mph of more. These types of storms are also known as typhoons or cyclones in other parts of the world.

While it looks to be a busy hurricane season, Heart to Heart is making preparations to be ready if one of these storms makes landfall.

Last year, Heart to Heart was on the scene and on the job when Hurricane Ike struck Galveston, Texas. We worked with the University of Texas Medical Branch to provide ongoing medical care to people affected by the storm, since none of the hospitals or clinics were too badly damaged to see any patients.

Sign up today to join our readiness team. There's a place for you on our Crisis Response Team. We need individuals, groups and companies to be readt when duty calls.

You can also help us by packing Care Kits, which we distribute to people in crisis in the U.S. and in disaster zones all around the world. Here are the instructions on how to build these hygiene kits.

Sending Relief to Combat Zone in Sri Lanka

On a day when Sri Lanka leaders are hailing a major victory of Tamil Tigers, relief groups are stepping up efforts to assist those who have been caught in the crossfire. Heart to Heart is one of the few groups to get its aid to the clinics in the combat zone.

We have a powerful tool to help healthcare workers treat wonded civilians. It's called the Ready Relief Box, and it contains enough medicines and supplies to provide up to 400 courses of treatment. Now Sri Lankan doctors and nurses can treat thousands of people at a time when medical resources are scarce.

Not only did we send several Ready Relief Boxes, but working through our local partner in Colombo and a network of groups, we were aid send a truckload of supplies to medical personnel in the affected region.

You can support relief efforts like this or the complex emergency in Pakistan or flooding in Brazil by making an online donation today!

Pristine Day Greets Golfers at Kauffman Classic

What do you get when you combine 100+ golfers, a 75-degree day, a challenging golf course, and lots of fun? Answer: The Kauffman Golf Classic.

Wonderful weather, great food and fun golf games greeted more than a hundred players at the 15th annual Ewing M. Kauffman Golf Classic -- a charity golf event held at Oakwood Country Club that benefits the humanitarian work of Heart to Heart International.

No one recorded a hole-in-one, but there were plenty of close calls. Many teams took advantage of the opportunity to score an ace (wink, wink) or feel like Tiger Woods on the boom-boom drive hole.

The winning score was 12-under in the first flight and 5-under for the second flight.

All funds raised from the Kauffman Golf Classic support Heart to Heart's efforts to restore communities to health.

Remembering China: One Year Later

One year after a massive earthquake struck Sichuan Province in southwestern China, residents are still recovering. It was on May 12 near the city of Beichuan that a magnitude-7.8 quake leveled towns and buried residents. In the end, it left more than 90,000 dead or missing and nearly 5 million homeless.

Heart to Heart was one of the first groups on the scene. Our medical staff in Chengdu quickly mobilized for action and joined the Chinese Red Cross in providing emergency care for survivors.

We were able send a GO Team of 30 U.S.-based volunteers and several additional staff members to help coordinate the unprecedented relief effort.

Within 30 days of the disaster, Heart to Heart had mobilized nearly 4,000 China-based volunteers to assist in delivering relief supplies to villagers trapped in mountains and hillsides of Sichuan.

Thanks to grants from companies like FedEx and New York Life, we have continued to focus our efforts on disaster-readiness training over the past year.

We are remembering China today, as the nation marks the one-year anniversary of the Beichuan earthquake.

On May 22, another Heart to Heart team will travel to Chengdu and help lead training exercises on pandemic preparedness and emergency-response coordination.

You can support the team's efforts by making an online donation today.

30//5,250//50

The World Health Organization is reporting that Influenza A (H1N1) has spread to 30 countries, where more than 5,250 cases have been reported, including more than 50 deaths.

Though Mexico has reported the most deaths (48) related to the virus, the United States has reported the most cases (2,532).

Because the disease has spread to several regions of the world, Heart to Heart has produced several prevention factsheets in such languages as English, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin (Simple). These factsheets are available for download on our homepage.

You can also support our efforts to provide training locally and globally, as well as protect healthcare workers by making an online donation today.

This spread of the virus appears to be waning, though health experts warn that it could return with a vengeance in the fall during flu season.

Regardless of what happens, we'll be here to inform you and serve as your connection to a world in need.

 

Sending Aid to Mexico City

Dr. Jeff DeGraffenreid, Heart to Heart's chief operations officer, spoke with Bill Grady at KMBZ-980 AM, the local ABC Radio affiliate in Kansas City about Heart to Heart's shipment of aid to Mexico City today.

Here is coverage from the Fox affiliate, WDAF-TV4.

 

 

Two Billion at Risk

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 2 billion people worldwide could be infected with the Influenza A/H1N1 virus if a global pandemic strikes. That's roughly a third of the world's population. Most of the infections are likely to happen in developing countries.

Heart to Heart is responding to the near-term crisis, as well as the potential outbreak in 4-6 months, when the seasonal flu virus hits in several regions of the world, including the United States.

Since announcing our response, we have laid out an intentional plan to educate vulnerable communities and protect healthcare workers.

We have already begun our community training initiative in Kansas City and Guatemala, and we've sent protective gear to clinics in Texas. We will send our first shipment of personal-protection equipment to Mexico tomorrow (Friday).

We have also produced multi-lingual factsheets on how individuals and groups can prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus in English, Russian, Spanish and Kaqchiquel (Mayan). More version are coming.

You can support our efforts in one or more of the following ways:

• Take steps to protect youself and your loved ones by following the guideleines on our factsheets
• Advocate for our response
• Volunteer to help us protect healthcare workers

• Make an online donation today to our Crisis Response Fund

Every contribution will help!

Arriving at the Right Time

Our volunteer team arrived in Guatemala City this afternoon, as health officials there confirmed the first case of the unique Influenza A/H1N1 virus.

The team is in the country this week to promote hand washing and prevention of the H1N1 virus. They are also installing water-filtration systems in several homes, so families have access to clean drinking water.

You can support their efforts by making an online donation today.

Every contribution helps.

Promoting Health in the Wake of the H1N1 Virus

We had a great opportunity this morning to demonstrate our humanitarian reach in our hometown of Kansas City, and we took it. Working with the Mexican consulate and a local charity El Centro, our staff led a training exercise on preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Our audience was comprised of 15 "promotoros" (health promoters), whose job is to go door-to-door in the local Hispanic community and provide basic health education and information.

"It was a perfect opportunity to take a global issue and localize it right here in Kansas City," said Dr. Jeff DeGraffenreid, Heart to Heart's chief operating officer. "The promotoros had a lot of tough questions and we helped answer those questions--not only for the promotors, but also for those they will engage throughout the community."

Heart to Heart and a team of volunteers will be traveling to Guatemala tomorrow to share a similar message of prevention in the region around scenic Lake Atitlan, where we have been creating access to clean water and improved sanitation.

If you would like to get involved with our training initiatives, sign up to volunteer today.

Greensburg: 2 Years Later

It's hard to imagine that in a matter of minutes, Mother Nature could take decades of dreams and sweep them into the Kansas prairie. But that's what happened on May 4, 2007, when an F5 tornado struck the small farming community of Greensburg, KS shortly after sunset. The twister, estimated to be 1.5 miles wide, destroyed much of the town's structures.

Within 24 hours, Heart to Heart was on the scene and on the job, providing health services to survivors and emergency workers alike. We had been invited to participate in the response after Greensburg's only hospital and clinic were both destroyed. For more than a month, we had the privilege to work with incredible folks.

You can read about our response.

Today, Greensburg is on the rise, trying to become America's first all-green, eco-friendly town.

We salute the residents of Greensburg and everyone who made our response possible.

You can ensure that we're ready for the next disaster by making an online donation today.