Workshop helps prep disaster volunteers

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Volunteers around the community are mobilizing to help with the extraordinary devastation in Haiti and Chile and the need is only expected to grow in the weeks and months to come.

The Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health and its community partners organized a free symposium - Rx Hope - to equip those volunteers and medical aid workers with the necessary information, vaccines and prescriptions to travel safely, Saturday, at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana, 7602 Patriot Crossing, in Fort Wayne.

Participants got an overview of general safety issues and infectious disease risks, communication in a disaster environment, and psychological first aid. Necessary vaccinations for traveling will also be offered.

Missionaries, volunteers and disaster relief worker in Haiti or Chile, are exposed to more risks than the average international traveler, said Dr. Deborah McMahan, Allen County Health Commissioner.

Conditions in these countries remain hazardous, including extensive damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. There are also a number of infectious diseases that pose a threat to volunteers.