U.S. Navy, NYPD Respond to Haiti´s Devastation

The USNS Comfort cast off lines this morning in Baltimore to begin the race to aid the people of Haiti, according to Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service.

In a report to the 14,000-member National Association of Chiefs of Police, Garamone said,"The hospital ship is loaded with medical expertise and supplies. Sailors from medical facilities all over the United States have arrived and are planning how to best deliver medical care."

"At this juncture the leadership of USNS Comfort is making every effort to expedite our arrival in Haiti, said Navy Lieutenant Bashon Mann, the ship's public affairs officer."

"The expected arrival date is Thursday (January 21,) but we are moving as fast as we safely can to hasten the arrival in Haiti to begin delivering patient care," said Lt. Mann.

The Comfort is a large white ship with red crosses painted on it. Haiti was a stop on its last deployment in 2009 and that is helping the medical professionals now as they head to the nation.

Red Cross officials fear that the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Jan. 12 killed between 40,000 and 50,000 people. Many thousands have been injured and most hospitals in Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital and epicenter of the quake, have been destroyed.

Meanwhile, with more than 80 New York City police officers and firefighters, the Emergency Management Search and Rescue Task Force continues in the search for survivors who are believed to remain buried in the ruble since the earthquake struck Haiti.

Using four specially trained K-9 units, the police officers and firefighters have been working diligently since they first arrived last Thursday night directly from New York City. The task force includes emergency medical personnel and a specially trained emergency physician assigned to the Haitian rescue operation.

Meanwhile, the FBI continues to warn Internet users who receive appeals to donate money in the aftermath of Tuesday´s earthquake in Haiti to apply a critical eye and do their due diligence before responding to those requests. Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause.

Therefore, before making a donation of any kind, consumers should adhere to certain guidelines, to include the following:

Do not respond to any unsolicited (spam) incoming e-mails, including clicking links contained within those messages.

Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.

Verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations by utilizing various Internet-based resources that may assist in confirming the group´s existence and its nonprofit status rather than following a purported link to the site.

Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files because the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.

Make contributions directly to known organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf to ensure contributions are received and used for intended purposes.

Do not give your personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions: Providing such information may compromise your identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft.

Anyone who has received an e-mail referencing the above information or anyone who may have been a victim of this or a similar incident should notify the IC3 via www.ic3.gov.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2010m1d16-US-Navy-NYPD-respond-to-Haitis-devastation