News Release: American Red Cross Continues Relief, Mental Health Counseling Two Months After Salvadoran Quake

Red Cross Workers Focus On Children Traumatized By Earthquake, Aftershocks

Washington, D.C., March 15, 2001 — This week marks the anniversary of the first and second earthquakes to hit El Salvador, leaving 1,159 people dead, 8,122 injured and more than 180,000 affected. It also marks the beginning of countless aftershocks that left earthquake victims sleeping on the streets in fear of building collapsing and further tremors. Two months ago after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake began a cloud of mourning, homelessness and continued uncertainty, the American Red Cross team already in El Salvador shifted immediately from long-term projects to emergency relief distribution.

"Because the American Red Cross has an established working relationship — health programs, disaster preparedness, water and sanitation programs — with the Salvadoran Red Cross, our response to these devastating quakes was more efficient and effective," said Gerald Jones, vice president, American Red Cross International Services. "Our on-going disaster preparedness program in El Salvador had strategically warehoused relief supplies that were available for immediate distribution to victims, this is an excellent example of how working together can empower our sister societies during times of crisis," he said.

American and Salvadoran Red Cross workers have distributed basic emergency relief items throughout communities plagued by earthquake damage and countless aftershocks. Emergency relief since January 13 includes:

• 500,000 liters of drinking water daily to an estimated 19,000 people;
• more than 30,000 water buckets;
• more than 2,000 rolls of plastic sheeting;
• nearly 53,000 blankets;
• 32,000 hygiene kits;
• and continued distributions of relief supplies, including 20,000 pounds of chlorine for water purification.

With training and financial support from the American Red Cross, local mental health staffers and Salvadoran Red Cross volunteers have helped more than 3,500 earthquake victims, especially children, cope with fear, anger and uncertainty. In small group settings, children use American Red Cross designed coloring books to illustrate their feelings and share their drawings with volunteers. As mental health programs help earthquake victims express emotions, other American Red Cross programs provided families separated by great distances to speak via cellular and satellite phones.

The American Red Cross is dedicated to helping make families and communities safer at home and around the world. A humanitarian service organization currently operating on a budget of $2.7 billion, the American Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to the victims of more than 63,000 disasters nationwide and has been the primary supplier of lifesaving blood and blood products in the United States for more than 50 years. The American Red Cross also trains more than 11.7 million people in vital lifesaving skills, provides direct health services to 2.5 million people, provides more than 24 million locally relevant community services, assists international disaster and conflict victims in more than 50 countries, and transmits nearly 1.4 million emergency messages between members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. Dr. Bernadine Healy is president and CEO of the American Red Cross.