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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tech Citizenship
Local techs lending a hand
By Mass High Tech staff
MHT's Julie Donnelly: Pharmaceuticals find drug development partners in colleges
MHT's Rodney Brown: Honoring tech citizenship among companies
MHT's Marc Songini: Technology to keep seniors healthy
Global Relief Technologies Inc. of Portsmouth, N.H., has teamed up with Healing Hands for Haiti and New England Brace Co. to begin fitting Haitian amputees with prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces. Relief workers from Healing Hands for Haiti and NEBC are using GRT’s technology to collect information such as the location, age, and type of injury, including a photo of the injury on a handheld PDA that automatically transmits the information to GRT’s control center in New Hampshire.
This allows doctors not on the scene to establish a “virtual triage” of patients, allowing the work of fitting prosthetics to amputees in most need to begin immediately, officials said.
The GRT team includes team leader Adam Cote, Mike Hartnett, Joe Guerra and Gaelle Simon. Cote is a former Army officer who has served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and a combat engineer in Iraq; Hartnett is a former Marine officer with significant international humanitarian experience; Guerra previously deployed in support of relief efforts during Hurricanes Ike and Gustav; and Simon is a Harvard-educated international project specialist who is fluent in Haitian Creole.
GRT will also assist the U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy and American Red Cross with their communication efforts.
MIT gathers experts to help plan Haiti relief efforts
Members of the MIT community last week held back-to-back conference calls with experts from around the United States to better understand both the scope of the earthquake catastrophe in Haiti and how their talents and knowledge could best be put to use in relief and reconstruction efforts.
Sponsored by the MIT Media Lab and the Center for Future Civic Media, and open to the Institute community and the broader public, the discussion was part of a four-day Independent Activities Period workshop and was aimed at developing innovative technologies to alleviate the crisis caused by the Jan. 12.
Chris Csikszentmihalyi, director of CFCM, is running the IAP workshop with Dale Joachim, a Media Lab visiting scientist. Although the workshop was intended to analyze the current situation in Haiti, including what technologies might be appropriate to implement in the short term, the goal of the class was to look at the transition period following the earthquake as Haitians try to rebuild their government, infrastructure and society.
Haitian dialysis patients get help from Fresenius
Waltham-based Fresenius Medical Care North America has donated and delivered dialysis supplies to Haitians in need following the devastating earthquake and aftershock. FMCNA chartered a plane to deliver its donated supplies to the Dominican Republic, where nearly a dozen Haitians need dialysis because of acute kidney injuries from the earthquake. FMCNA has pledged close to $200,000 in supplies for Haiti relief efforts, including dialyzers, needles, bloodlines and heparin. The company will match employee donations dollar for dollar. FMCNA has more than 42,000 employees.
FMCNA is working through the American Society of Nephrology, which is coordinating with kidney organizations to provide needed supplies and medical professionals. The company also loaded dialysis equipment and supplies onto the U.S. Navy’s floating medical treatment facility, the USNS Comfort, which is treating patients from its position just off shore of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.
EarthSpark sending solar lighting to help in Haiti
EarthSpark International, a Cambridge-based nonprofit that operates in Haiti, is raising money to send solar lamps to the country to assist in disaster relief efforts. The organization is working with a coalition of fellow Clinton Global Initiative members to coordinate the supply and distribution of solar-powered products in Port-au-Prince. These portable power options can have an immediate impact on the communities and individuals in terms of safety and well-being.
Companies including SunNight Solar, SunTransfer, D.Light Design, and Barefoot Power are poised to send over 50,000 solar lamps, mobile chargers, and flashlights. The coalition has secured donor commitment for the deployment of 6,500 lamps and 800 mobile phone chargers, which are already en route to Haiti. They are partnering with Partners in Health and relief organizations to distribute these products on the ground.
EarthSpark has also raised funds to install 1.8 kilowatts of solar-powered lighting in hospitals run by Partners in Health.
Purdue Pharma pumps more than $5M into Haitian-focused charities
Purdue Pharma LP of Stamford. Conn., and its associated U.S. companies are donating close to $5 million in pharmaceutical products to aid the victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The company is also making a cash donation of $25,000 to AmeriCares and is matching employee cash donations dollar for dollar to AmeriCares and the American Red Cross to further support to those organizations’ relief efforts.
Purdue Pharma is donating close to $5 million of Ryzolt (tramadol HCl extended-release tablets) and Betadine (povidone-iodine) Solution and Betadine Surgical Scrub antiseptics to AmeriCares. The company is exploring whether additional shipments of Ryzolt and Betadine can be distributed in Haiti through other relief agencies.
Privately held Purdue Pharma is focused on research on persistent pain.
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