Red Cross representatives on campus today

Hurricane Katrina info UNMC’s information on Hurricane Katrina can be found at http://www.unmc.edu/katrina. The site will evolve as more information becomes available.

Representatives of the American Red Cross will be on the UNMC campus today (Wednesday) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. outside the Nebraska Cafe for employees interested in contributing to the hurricane relief effort. All of the money collected will go to the disaster area.

Those faculty and employees who would like to give to the Red Cross but can’t make it to the Cafe can make a donation online at http://www.redcross.org/.

“Right now, to aid the victims of this disaster, what is needed most are monetary gifts,” said John Russell, assistant vice chancellor for Human Resources at UNMC. “There will be opportunities to donate other items in the future, but right now, cash donations can be used by the relief organizations to supply the items most needed by the victims.”

Already, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have begun their efforts to assist those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast last week. Patients have been transported to The Nebraska Medical Center (see adjoining story), and students have contacted campus officials about continuing their studies at UNMC, at least temporarily.

Coordinated relief efforts Employees should work through well-established relief organizations that are coordinating relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region. Travel to the area and sending unsolicited support materials is discouraged. Reputable relief agencies include, but are not limited to, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the USA Freedom Corps.

Gov. Dave Heineman is asking Nebraska’s health care workers to respond to a call from federal officials for volunteer aid in the areas affected by the hurricane. The governor is asking that medical personnel available to travel to Gulf Coast states register online at
https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov or call toll-free at 866-528-6334. Hospital or UNMC staff who would like more information should contact Steve Smith, M.D., who is serving as the point person in coordinating the campus’s health-care relief efforts.

If you want to be included as a contact for possible housing needs of displaced persons (particularly students, faculty or patient families), please provide the appropriate information to David Crouse, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate dean for graduate studies at UNMC.