As the situation evolves since the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, Direct Relief has been in close contact with several partner organizations to offer assistance. Those organizations include a range of governmental and nongovernmental agencies responding to the emergency, in which 708 people have been killed and more than 2 million have been left homeless:
- Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional office of the World Health Organization
- Fundación Educativa de Desarrollo Economico y Social (FEDES), a nonprofit organization based in Santiago that works to better the conditions of the nation’s poorest hospitals and medical institutions as one of its programs
- Oficina Nacional de Emergencias e Información (ONEMI), a Chilean government agency dedicated to the prevention, organization, coordination and information relative to natural disasters
- The Chilean Consulate office in Los Angeles
- The Archdiocese of Lima, Peru, a trusted partner in earthquake response, as proven after the 2007 Peru earthquake.
- The Hawaii Primary Care Association, which was in the tsunami-warning area immediately after the earthquake struck.
Several leading healthcare manufacturers contacted over the weekend have offered support, including Abbott, Ansell Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Covidien, Henry Schein, Johnson & Johnson and The Allergan Foundation.
Direct Relief is staying in close contact with emergency responders to provide medical aid as needed to help the people of Chile affected by the earthquake.