{"id":7486,"date":"2018-03-15T20:04:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T02:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/?p=7486"},"modified":"2022-02-08T14:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T21:45:17","slug":"puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-march-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/disaster-relief\/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-march-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico – Hurricane Maria March 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"puerto-rico-disaster-relief-header\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2017, Puerto Rico was hit with a deadly category 5 hurricane, named Hurricane Maria. hurricane Maria is regarded as the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Jeanne in 2004. Prior to both hurricane Irma and hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was already struggling with access to sustainable and reliable power and water. The island\u2019s water system is already vulnerable and the Natural Resource Defense Council reported that approximately 70 percent of the island had water that did not meet the standards of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. Puerto Rico was just starting to recover after Irma that happened two weeks prior to Maria. This left Puerto Rico no time to replenish supplies and resources. Evacuation orders were issued in Puerto Rico in advance of Maria, and officials announced that 450 shelters would open in the afternoon of September 18. By September 19, 2017, at least 2,000 people in Puerto Rico had sought shelter. These two devastating hurricanes back-to-back caused a major humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt was reported that Maria had sustained winds of 64 mph (103 km\/h) with a gust to 113 mph (182 km\/h) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, immediately prior to the hurricane making landfall on the island. Heavy rainfall followed, causing widespread flooding in San Juan. Storm surges and flooding trapped thousands of residents and the water rose to at least 6 ft (1.8 m) in 30 minutes, with flood waters reaching a depth of 15 ft (4.6 m) in some areas. Also, the hurricane completely destroyed the island’s power grid, leaving all 3.4 million residents without electricity.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tYes, it is true that the work we do has a positive impact on those we care for, but nothing compares to the impact they have on us with their love and appreciation. My heart overflowed when an elderly woman bestowed many blessings upon me and the team, and bid me farewell with her kind hugs and kisses. Tears could not be suppressed when my heart overflowed again with joy by the infant in my arms, who spoke no true words, yet filled my entire being with such incredible love and warmth through his beautiful smile, adorable laughs and appreciable coos. And the amazing IMR team! Almost all of us were complete strangers upon arrival and became an instant family. \u2013 Tricia, Bahamas Disaster Relief\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Tricia\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTricia<\/span>Bahamas Disaster Relief<\/span><\/cite>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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International Medical Relief (IMR) was quick to respond. This hurricane knocked out power, destroyed homes, and flooded neighborhoods. With limited or no power, fuel, food, and resources, the citizens of Puerto Rico were vulnerable to disease and health complications. International Medical Relief was asked to provide medical care to those most in need. IMR sent IMR three sent out a dental and medical mission over a three-week period to help in this effort, then two more teams in March 2018. IMR clinics are composed of both our corps of international medical staff and local providers who partner shoulder-to-shoulder to help deliver sustainable healthcare elevating access to care for our patients. During this medical mission trip, a total of 69 volunteers and staff served over 1,185 patients. IMR provided much needed aid to the local health care system during the recovery period. IMR teams that included EMTs, nurses, doctors, dentists, and students who reached beyond borders in order to provide critical care to the most vulnerable populations in the aftermath of Maria. During our urgent response to this disaster, IMR was able to provide a total aid value of $1,978,315.<\/p>

Also, our first responders medical team also provided community health classes to further the patient’s knowledge and education on health matters related to their personal health needs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDuring IMR\u2019s critical work, we also provided 20 health education classes including hygiene, solar water disinfection, oral hygiene, sanitation, grieving, and others. Over 3,301 people participated in these education classes. Educating communities allow for locals to become more empowered by their own health, as well as for the health of other community members. These classes will help families and communities recover as they rebuild their lives. \nInternational Medical Relief continues to provide disaster relief by helping communities that are still impacted by the aftermath of Maria. IMR continues to travel to Puerto Rico in order to provide long-term sustainable care to meet the greatest health care needs of this community. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTo say I had a wonderful time in the Bahamas doesn\u2019t begin to cover it. Serving the people of the Bahamas was a beautiful, and humbling experience! I learned so much, and grew both as a nurse and person. I am honored to serve such gracious people. \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoin Us in Making a Difference.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Bring much-needed acute medical and dental care to a beautiful, culture-rich destination. You can join an IMR medical mission team today!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t<\/i>Prev<\/span><\/span>Previous<\/span>Our 250,000th Patient!<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tNext<\/span>Guatemala – Volcano Eruption Fuego June 2018 Disaster Relief<\/span><\/span><\/i>Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2017, Puerto Rico was hit with a deadly category 5 hurricane, named Hurricane Maria. hurricane Maria is regarded as the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Jeanne in 2004. Prior to both hurricane Irma and hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was already struggling with access to sustainable and reliable power and water. The island\u2019s water system is already vulnerable and the Natural Resource Defense Council reported that approximately 70 percent of the island had water that did not meet the standards of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. Puerto Rico was just starting to recover after Irma that happened two weeks prior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disaster-relief"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalmedicalrelief.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}