Courtesy Photo | Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit inspect a wall damaged during the...... read more read more
Subscribe
USS BATAAN, At Sea - In the days after a major disaster, one of the most difficult obstacles and most critical pieces of information is what relief is needed and where it is needed the most.
Days after Haiti was struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, Marines and Sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and Bataan Amphibious Relief Mission answered the call to join in the relief efforts.
For Capt. Donovan Salerno, 22nd MEU intelligence officer, that meant gathering any information available to ascertain what areas were hit the hardest and what types of relief is needed.
He found this critical information through a source more commonly used for socializing; the internet.
"I contacted Marine Corps Intelligence Agency to gather open source intelligence, trying to gather as much information as I can," Salerno explained.
As Salerno tried to gather much needed intelligence, Rebecca Larkin, an organizer for Heart to Heart Children's home in Grand Goave, Haiti, was posting photos of the damage to her organization's buildings and the local area, as well as, writing on her blog about the struggles they were going through trying to reach food under a collapsed part of their building.
In his quest for vital information Salerno, was forwarded an email from Maj. Eric Purcell, commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, which outlined a model approximately 40 students were putting together to aid in the relief of the earthquake stricken country.
"Essentially, they are working around the clock receiving [text] messages, tweets and fairly unconventional media sources to map where people need help and coordinate that help," Purcell explained about the students.
The students receive a tweet or text with a description of the problem, a location and point of contact, and that information is put into a spreadsheet, Purcell explained about the model. Once the information is put into a spreadsheet, a student calculates the coordinates and lays it over Google maps.
As Salerno read the mail, he saw the project's potential to aid the 22nd MEU by having the greatest impact in providing aid to those affected from the earthquake. Overnight, MCIA created a cell of five employees working 12 hours a day seven days a week, using the students' model.
"The first information I got through all these pieces of the puzzle, was information of a children's home who cared for more than 100 children," explained Salerno. "We had all the information we needed to act on this."
Within 24 hours of receiving information regarding Larkin and her children's home, which houses 110 children, Marines from the 22nd MEU began walking through the streets of Grand Goave looking for the home.
"The first Marine asking for me walked up the river bank asking kids for a white girl named Rebecca," Larkin explained. "Luckily that description only applied to me."
Larkin explained the children reached her before the Marines, yelling, "The white guys have come to take you home."
"I was overwhelmed to say the least," Larkin exclaimed. "It had been a difficult few days, and having my hand shaken by someone who promised to help me through this gave me the strength I needed to continue pushing on."
The next day, Larkin's blog was riddled with photos of Marines working hard to clear rubble from her fallen building making it safer for her and the children she cares for.
"Despite the long work day for the Marines it was clear that they were enjoying the opportunity to "destruct" and their positive attitude rubbed off on the kids." Larkin, a native of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, writes in her blog. "It was nice to see the smiles back on the kid's faces."
Larkin stated the Marines from the 22nd MEU gave her food, set up a temporary fence where a wall collapsed, brought down parts of the collapsed building, which posed a danger, recovered trapped food, recovered and tested water tanks, and provided medical assistance.
"They also took every opportunity to connect with the kids on our compound and have really lifted their spirits," Larkin exclaimed.
Salerno explained, when they got all the pieces of information, it all fell into place.
"This program allows us to identify critical needs," said Solernao. "There is nothing like this in the Marine Corps. This can shape the way we respond to a crisis in the future."
He explained, in the past, the Marines would send out troops to areas believed to be in need of aid to gather information, which takes critical time.
"With this program, there is only about a 24 hour lag from the time the information gets sent to the time we receive it," Salerno said. "Once we receive the information, we make a determination where it falls into priority, like an emergency room triage."
Salerno compared the program to a 9-1-1 call center, gathering information, determining where the need has priority and responding to the need.
"[The Marines] are not just in Haiti to do a job; they are in Haiti to help people they care about," Larkin explained. "There is a big difference between the two."
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2010 18:08 |
| Story ID: | 44755 |
| Location: | HT |
| Web Views: | 448 |
| Downloads: | 356 |
This work, Blogs, Twitter helps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in crisis response, by SSgt Wayne Campbell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
