AmeriCares Emergency and Health Blogs http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=cf22b2d89a5ddf2acd74359b8d2497c9 Thu, 01 Oct 2015 23:01:52 +0000 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/09/building-sustainable-disaster-recovery-programs-for-the-long-term-in-japan/ Ramona Bajema, our country representative in Japan, has spent recent weeks on an inspiring journey, visiting 20 partners helped by AmeriCares following the 2011 triple disaster. These partners have developed sustainable programs that have become so successful they are now part of the fabric of the community. http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3674 Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:02:27 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/08/how-hurricane-katrina-inspired-a-career-and-built-a-network/ Kate Dischino, our Associate Director of Emergency Programs, tells how her career began with the personal relationships that grew out of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how AmeriCares has built a strong network of partners to meet health emergencies since that time. http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3668 Thu, 27 Aug 2015 20:30:33 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2015/08/do-you-have-any-questions-for-me/ By Lindsay O’Brien, Associate Director, U.S. Programs  We all know that it’s a good idea to have a list of critical questions ready for our short visits with the doctor in order to maximize those precious few minutes with an expert. (With doctors’ appointments averaging about 18 minutes1,  it makes sense to come prepared). And […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3867 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 14:23:28 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/06/when-the-rains-come-what-happens-then/ An AmeriCares team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, just 48 hours after the April 25 earthquake. AmeriCares teams have been holding mobile health clinics for survivors and traveling to rural areas with stocks of medicine and supplies, to treat survivors and assess needs at hospitals and clinics. What is going to happen when the monsoons hit […] http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3649 Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:50:50 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/06/the-consequences-of-survival/ An AmeriCares team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, just 48 hours after the April 25 earthquake. AmeriCares teams have been holding mobile health clinics for survivors and traveling to rural areas with stocks of medicine and supplies, to treat survivors and assess needs at hospitals and clinics. On Day 5 after the earthquake, patients were still […] http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3642 Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:26:57 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/05/the-critical-need-for-safe-shelter-and-temporary-health-care-facilities/ An AmeriCares team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, just 48 hours after the April 25 earthquake. AmeriCares teams have been holding mobile health clinics for survivors and traveling to rural areas with stocks of medicine and supplies, to treat survivors and assess needs at hospitals and clinics. The word for the day is “tents”: small tents, […] http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3632 Wed, 27 May 2015 14:50:09 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/05/day-4-the-first-to-bring-relief-for-survivors/ An AmeriCares team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, just 48 hours after the April 25 earthquake. http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3618 Fri, 22 May 2015 17:44:43 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2015/05/day-9-in-nepal-medical-needs-we-are-seeing-now/ An AmeriCares team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, just 48 hours after the April 25 earthquake. AmeriCares teams have been holding mobile health clinics for survivors and traveling to rural areas with stocks of medicine and supplies, to treat survivors and assess needs at hospitals and clinics. As AmeriCares teams travel to earthquake-affected communities in Nepal, […] http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3606 Tue, 05 May 2015 17:30:15 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2014/12/critical-infrastructure-investments-after-a-disaster-help-communities-heal-and-grow/ Impact of repair and replacement of a water tower damaged by a powerful tornado in Gifford, Illinois http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3575 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:37:27 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2014/12/working-as-a-team-in-the-ebola-hot-zone/ Majid Sadigh, MD, gives a detailed account of the teamwork required to treat patients and protect team members. http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3544 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:19:34 +0000 http://emergencyblog.americares.org/2014/12/a-garden-of-flowers-in-the-season-of-ebola/ Majid Sadigh, MD, one of the medical team members recruited by AmeriCares and fighting Ebola in Liberia, gives a deeply personal and close-up view of his work in an Ebola Treatment Unit as AmeriCares expands its support for health workers on the front lines. http://emergencyblog.americares.org/?p=3500 Mon, 15 Dec 2014 21:51:37 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/08/healthcareheroes/  The hashtag’s purpose seemed simple: to help spread the word about the heroes we see providing quality health care to others – people like doctors and other medical professionals. Except it then hit me: how many of these kinds of heroes do we really know that well?  It might not be enough for the idea […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3815 Thu, 07 Aug 2014 17:17:12 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/08/some-startling-facts-about-maternal-mortality-in-the-u-s/ When one thinks of mothers dying during childbirth, the United States is probably not a country that comes to mind.  It’s common knowledge in the international community that a large majority of maternal deaths occur in developing countries.  The World Health Organization reports steady progress in the reduction of maternal deaths since 1990, with a 45% […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3808 Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:14:59 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/08/much-more-than-disaster-relief/ As a rising senior studying film at the University of Colorado, I was lucky enough to spend my summer as the Multi-Media Intern at AmeriCares. While growing up in Stamford, I had heard about the great work that AmeriCares was doing. However, the real extent and global reach of this organization was not apparent to […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3804 Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:19:04 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/lucky-to-be-here-an-interns-view-of-working-at-americares/  I suspect that is what draws everyone here. From the first day I arrived at headquarters, I was instantly blown away by the amount of collaboration and team work in the office. I had only been here for half an hour and already I was in a meeting with the entire organization (it happens every […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3799 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 20:18:24 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/health-inequity-cholera-as-the-lens/ After my first semester in college, I came home to find the biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains, sitting on my desk with a yellow sticky note affixed to the front that read, “E – read this. Love, Mom.” I stacked the book on my bedside table without looking at it, exhausted by […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3793 Thu, 24 Jul 2014 20:09:45 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/how-a-clean-birth-kit-can-save-mothers-and-infants/ My first volunteer experience was in the maternity ward of a Connecticut hospital. My job consisted of restocking the shelves with medical supplies, diapers, diaper bags and sometimes even car seats. All of these items were available to the new mothers if they could not afford the products on their own. My interactions with the […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3784 Tue, 22 Jul 2014 20:05:41 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/empowering-women-to-be-their-own-healthcareheroes/ In my hometown, ambulance transport is provided by volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). Whenever the ambulance is dispatched for a woman in labor, the goal is always to get her to the hospital before she delivers the baby because it’s the safest place to give birth. This is why, as a volunteer EMT, I’ve found […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3773 Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:45:46 +0000 http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/the-cholera-storm/ The Storm Cholera can race like a mighty storm at an alarming pace through the land, washing out communities who lack the resources and preparation they need but can’t access. As simple as an umbrella protecting you from the rain or a shelter protecting you from a storm, cholera is treatable and preventable. And yet […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3824 Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:04:58 +0000 Eager Idealists http://healthblog.americares.org/2014/07/slipping-through-the-cracks-why-we-might-always-need-free-clinics/ Imagine you are a child living in West Virginia. You have one sibling and two working parents. Your father, a coal miner, has lung cancer. Your parents’ combined income totals $40,000 per year, or 168 percent of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL). Even though your state expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, you remain ineligible […] http://healthblog.americares.org/?p=3762 Tue, 15 Jul 2014 20:31:46 +0000