"When the earthquake struck, I was driving down the mountain from Petionville," writes Bob Poff, director of disaster services for the Salvation Army in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. "Our truck was being tossed to and fro like a toy, and when it stopped, I looked out the windows to see buildings 'pancaking' down, like I have never witnessed before... [T]housands of people poured out into the streets, crying, carrying bloody bodies, looking for anyone who could help them. We piled as many bodies into the back of our truck [as we could] and took them down the hill with us, hoping to find medical attention."

Following the destruction wrought by the devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti last Tuesday, a nation already beset by poverty and need is struggling for survival, now left without even the few resources it possessed before. Confounded by the logistical nightmare that is Haiti now, many relief efforts have been delayed and diverted in ensuing days as several organizations strive to assist.

Help Begins to Arrive

Almost a week after disaster struck, aid is finally beginning to reach those who need it. Emergency workers deployed to Haiti last week to assist local efforts are making progress in getting needed supplies into devastated areas. Thousands of U.S. troops geared up today to join those already on the ground in the disaster zone, bringing with them medical aid and equipment for clearing debris, making way for further rescue operations. Around the world, people have answered Haiti’s call for help. Among international efforts, from the U.K., the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) Haiti Earthquake Appeal total has reached £23million so far, as the public responds to the needs of Haiti's survivors.

"The response from the public has been absolutely overwhelming," stated DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley in a release today. "It does show that whatever financial concerns people are experiencing here in the U.K., they feel a deep level of empathy for the people of Haiti, and will give whatever they can... We know that people are being reached, but there is a huge challenge ahead, and much more work to be done."

While supplies trickle in via air, land, and sea, some Haitian survivors are still being pulled from the wreckage of collapsed buildings. Reuters reports that between 100,000 and 200,000 people died during the quake; most of Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince has been destroyed and will have to be rebuilt. The United Nations World Food Programme reported today that persistent aftershocks continue to complicate efforts. This morning, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a bulletin stating that the situation in Port-au-Prince is now "catastrophic."

"Access to shelter, sanitation, water, food and medical care remains extremely limited," stated Riccardo Conti, the ICRC's head of delegation in Haiti. "Even if the presence of aid agencies is starting to be felt in hospitals and clinics, many medical facilities in Port-au-Prince still lack staff and medicine. Given the scale of the needs, the task facing humanitarian organizations is daunting."

"People are becoming more aggressive because they need food and water," stated a survivor named Sherley, quoted in the ICRC bulletin. "As we start to figure out that our loved ones are not going to be found, it is as if we are finally understanding what is happening to us. Today, people are fighting to survive."

As that fight for survival turns desperate, the danger has extended beyond the victims of the earthquake to the people who want to help them. Individuals and grassroots groups who are willing to drop everything, travel to Haiti, and volunteer in relief efforts are being discouraged from doing so.

"There are lots of concerns that rioting might break out in Haiti, and people bringing supplies are careful of being attacked by the Haitians who are so desperate to get food," said Rawnie Bogebjerg Hansen, owner of Palmera Destination Services in Punta Cana, located across the border from Haiti in the neighboring Dominican Republic. "Remember that Haiti is extremely poor and one of the most dangerous countries in the world. With this disaster, everything is just pushed to extremes, and people are doing whatever they can to survive and get supplies from the people bringing them in. The Haitians were already struggling for survival, and now it's even worse."

Bogebjerg Hanson was quick to circulate the word to industry colleagues last Wednesday that "things are normal" within the Dominican Republic's area of the island of Hispaniola. Also on Wednesday, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism distributed a statement to address concerns regarding its infrastructure. According to the tourism board:

• All of the DR's eight international airports are open and receiving flights.
• All of the DR's cruise terminals and seaports are open and receiving ships.
• All of the DR's beaches, hotels, resorts and tourism businesses are conducting normal business operations.
• At this time, no flights or group tours to the DR have been cancelled.

With the Dominican Republic open for business as usual, it has served as a point of access for many international efforts geared toward getting needed supplies directly into Haiti.

"There are also many companies here in Punta Cana that are organizing deliveries to be sent from here," Bogebjerg Hanson says.

Leave It to the Pros

However, at this time, unofficial groups are being warned to stay away and let the professionals handle the situation in Haiti, Bogebjerg Hansen reports. The sentiment has been repeated by many officials and others who fear an inundation of untrained volunteers.

"A few of the doctors in my database are actually packing up and heading to Haiti to assist in treating injured residents," relates Deidre Drewes, who works with cosmetic surgeons, dentists, and dermatologists to organize events and cross-promotions. "I think it is important to remember that organizations, other than the Red Cross, should not interfere with U.S. government efforts that are already under way. Our military is obviously working hard to get land and air troops into endangered areas of Haiti to assist rescue efforts."

On Thursday, during a live chat with on-the-ground disaster relief experts, online participants clamored for details about how they could provide immediate assistance to the Haitian people. Hosted by USA TODAY and open to the public, the live chat featured the Salvation Army's Poff, Lt. Col. Dan Starrett, executive director of the Salvation Army World Service Office, and Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing International. Some chat participants asked how they could get involved on the ground level in Haiti, but many did not receive the answers they were looking for.

"Volunteering to come to Haiti is not as simple as it may seem," Poff responded. "At the moment, for example, there are no commercial flights into Haiti. My suggestion would be to begin with the Salvation Army in your community."

The experts on hand did not address questions regarding strategies for grassroots groups to organize deliveries of supplies via charter flights or coordination with groups in the Dominican Republic. Some such inquiries did not make it past the chat moderator; others received little response in favor of more general questions about where individuals could direct monetary donations.

Further frustrating good intentions, live chat participants were advised that donations of food and other items for the people of Haiti might only complicate the operations of the humanitarian organizations involved—even though experts acknowledged that food and water are among the supplies most badly needed.

"[The] most needed items at this time are food, water and medical supplies," Poff stated during the live chat. "Over time, all of those things will be needed. And we have to weigh the cost of shipping them vs. value."

"It is difficult to get any of these types of donations into the country at this time," Lt. Col. Starrett added in the course of the chat. "The Salvation Army is working with many groups to get physical aid as quickly as possible. Shipments are ready and waiting to be sent into Haiti as soon as we receive clearance in the country."

According to Operation Blessing's Horan, challenges facing on-the-ground workers include "lack of transportation; shortage of fuel; poor communications; 'our team's BlackBerries don't work.'"

Meeting Professionals Weigh In

If those types of challenges ring familiar for you, you're not alone. Organizing a large-scale relief effort comes with many of the same challenges meeting and event professionals deal with as a matter of course. Within the industry, many pros share in the desire to help and in frustrations over the slow-moving process of current relief efforts. Who better to assist in such efforts, some ask, than professionals who routinely plan large-scale logistics, operations, and risk management strategies?

"I just finished watching the CNN report where they say that doctors and nurses have been taken away from the hospitals by the U.N. because of security issues," says one industry professional who wishes to remain unnamed. "It’s very upsetting to see all the people left behind because of logistics, which in our area is our forte."

"The U.S. government has a group of veterinarians that can be called to duty in crisis—think [Hurricane] Katrina and the rescue of animals," notes MaryAnne Bobrow, CAE, CMP, CMM, of Bobrow & Associates. "I have often wondered why they don’t have a group of meeting professionals who could be called in to organize efforts during times of crisis. Isn’t this one of our skill sets?"

Under today's economic conditions, some people feel they cannot spare financial offerings and have little to donate but their time, skills, and resources. In fact, some, like Rosaelena Ledesma-Bernaducci, CMP, have more time and freedom to give due to ongoing unemployment issues in the U.S.

"If anyone knows of any organizations looking for volunteers to go to Haiti, since I am not working, I am very willing to go down," Ledesma-Bernaducci posted to the MiForum listserv last Wednesday.

Having been out of work for over a year now, Ledesma-Bernaducci would welcome the opportunity to make a difference in Haiti. She also believes meeting professionals possess critical skills that could aid the efforts.

"As planner[s], there is plenty we can do, if we have done any risk management," she says. "I think our basic organizational skills would help, once the large debris is removed. Right now, they have to move the stuff for anyone to help the others. Civil engineers and crane workers are needed first and foremost. Only those who understand risk management would understand a situation like that."

"We deal in crisis management of all types," Bobrow says of meeting professionals. "We have the mindset, skill set and resolve to handle tough situations and the organizational skills to make things work."

Many industry pros, after all, are masters at orchestrating complex productions that involve the actions of many individuals and the synchronization of many moving parts. For instance, meeting and event professionals have plenty of insight to share in relation to challenges such as communication that can impact the coordination of volunteer teams in chaotic environments.

"Events are all about thinking three steps ahead," says Robin Preston of Azure Event Production in Coral Gables, FL. "The biggest challenge facing volunteers once they get there is communication. Often, in large events, if you don’t have a central command post well stocked with people who are in charge and can make the decisions, the event will fail. In this disaster zone, volunteers will quickly spread out and, without proper channels of communication, may actually make things worse."

As a business based on relationships and "who you know," the meetings industry, some believe, presents a widespread network that could work cooperatively to create a huge impact. Greg Jenkins, partner at Bravo Productions in Long Beach, CA, outlines a hypothetical action plan for his company to illustrate how industry professionals could, in theory, work with colleagues and contacts to organize operations to get needed supplies to Haiti.

First, since Jenkins' firm is based in Southern California, he says his immediate action step would be to partner with a colleague in South Florida, then request that command posts be established in South Florida, in the Dominican Republic, and with the Red Cross.

"Instead of trying to ship and transport goods to Haiti, where the airport and airspace is already crowded, I would have those goods coming from the U.S. be sent to my command center in the Dominican Republic," Jekins says. "Things such as packaged food products, juices, water, etc., would be flown from the Dominican Republic and dropped in the most needed areas of Haiti. The Red Cross would have that information."

To carry out such operations, Jenkins says he would solicit the support of fraternal and religious organizations and community service groups. These types of groups could play an essential role in supplying experienced volunteers in California, Florida and the Dominican Republic, he says.

"These are groups that are used to working together as a team, as opposed to attempting to recruit individual volunteers," Jenkins explains. "In addition, these groups have their own supervisors, which would help in filtering the information out to their members. It [would] provide my immediate production team an opportunity to devote attention to more of the organizational and logistical aspects."

In contrast, Drewes believes industry professionals and grassroots groups have plenty of opportunities to use their skills for the greater good without deploying individuals or groups to affected regions, where she feels unofficial volunteers could interfere with larger operations.

"Companies can organize their own fundraising events and collections and pass the supplies and funds they collect off to their local Red Cross chapter or any other reputable organization that is involved," she says. "Nurses, medical professionals, and civilians wishing to assist during the crisis should keep in contact with these local chapters as well to get proper instructions on how to volunteer. In the age of Internet, organizations should email their databases requesting donations and volunteers and, once again, forward this information on to the respective government agency that is organizing relief efforts."

At least for the time being, this seems to be the best advice for U.S. individuals and groups who want to help. According to information distributed by the World Health Organization (WHO), "Many representatives of smaller aid missions, and even individuals, want to join these efforts, many of them offering valuable skills. However, at this stage, the situation is so difficult on the ground in Haiti that all outside aid teams must be completely self-sufficient."

Despite the overwhelming desire on the parts of many to get involved at the ground level and to see immediate results, most industry professionals agree it is wisest to defer to the major disaster relief organizations. The consensus is clear: the situation in Haiti is not one that will benefit from any renegade solo missions, no matter how passionately potential volunteers might believe in the cause and their capabilities.

"I would avoid trying to organize groups in Haiti," Jenkins acknowledges. "It's apparent that the situation is already frantic and disorganized. I would have my command centers keep in touch with the Red Cross on the ground in Haiti."

The Current Situation

Where there are those who want to do good, there are others who wish to capitalize on tragedy for personal gain. Scam artists have already reportedly begun to prey on those who wish to provide financial assistance to Haiti relief efforts. Donors are urged to only direct funds toward recognized, reputable organizations. For news and updates about official groups and campaigns, Meeting Professionals International is maintaining an ongoing list of "Confirmed Legitimate Relief Efforts."

To date, more than 30 countries have been able to send in relief to Haiti, according to Reuters reports. However, the convergence of people, aircraft, vehicles, and things has reportedly caused further delays in the arrival of food and medical supplies to victims. Approximately 50 flights carrying aid have so far been diverted from landing at Haiti's airport, although air traffic control has made steady improvements under the command of the U.S. military.

On the streets of Port-au-Prince, the fight for survival remains dire and unpredictable. Today's ICRC bulletin outlines the current situation with reports that, with next to no infrastructure or services left, and with limited access to toilets and clean water, people sleep in filth in streets that reek of human waste. If an outbreak of disease is to be avoided, the ICRC's Conti stated, sanitation issues are of utmost importance right now.

According to the WHO, some of Haiti's most urgent public health threats at present are results of displacement and crowding. As many sources note, Haiti was already a hotbed for disease long before last week's earthquake destroyed what few defenses its people had maintained. For example: pandemic influenza A (H1N1) is currently circulating in the nation, the WHO notes, along with the highest tuberculosis incidence in the Western Hemisphere.

To compound matters of security and personal safety, while thousands of victims await promised supplies, incidents of violence and looting in Haiti are on the rise as levels of desperation grow.

"People have lost everything," Verlène, another earthquake survivor, stated in today's ICRC bulletin. "In Delmas, where I live, there is looting. We are now barricading at night. Homeowners carry guns and use them. Yesterday, people started shouting that a tsunami was coming in order to scare people away so they could steal whatever's left."

According to many sources, those who can afford to do so are leaving the affected areas. As the ICRC bulletin stated, "...the border with the Dominican Republic is reportedly jammed with Port-au-Prince residents trying to get out. Near the airport, Haitian-Americans are lining up in front of the U.S. embassy, trying to leave the country."

Back inside Port-au-Prince, the ICRC reports, indifference is beginning to set in. "Along the Route des Frères last night, I saw people burning bodies in an improvised grave on the side of the street," one woman told the ICRC. Elsewhere, bodies of victims wait in the streets, ignored for now.

As massive international relief efforts slowly make their way into the small island nation, thousands of Haitian survivors can do little else but continue to wait... and hope help arrives in time.

Serenity J. Knutson is the Editor in Chief of PlannerWire.com, the News, Information and Community website for meeting and event planners. Contact her at Serenity@PlannerWire.com.

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