×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

Street Medicine Brings Care to Patients, Where They Need It

Equipped with Direct Relief field medic packs, Doctors Without Walls - Santa Barbara Street Medicine provides healthcare for Santa Barbara County’s most vulnerable population.

News

Health

Equipped with Direct Relief field medic packs, Doctors Without Walls - Santa Barbara Street Medicine is dedicated to providing street medicine to the most vulnerable in Santa Barbara County. (Maeve O'Connor/Direct Relief)
By Maeve Ozimec

Darkness and dropping temperatures didn’t stop a group of healthcare providers from gathering last week in a local park to offer health services to people in need. That’s what Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine has done since 2005, harnessing the power of volunteer nurses, doctors, and medical students to provide critical health care to those living without permanent housing in Santa Barbara County, California.

Among the first street medicine programs to be established in the United States, Doctors Without Walls operates an average of 14 outreach events per week, traveling to local parks and beaches to treat individuals needing health services.  

Equipped with Direct Relief field medic packs, Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine is dedicated to providing street medicine to the most vulnerable in Santa Barbara County. (Maeve O’Connor/Direct Relief)

Each Thursday evening, Doctors Without Walls and more than 20 other community organizations gather to provide services, including free hot meals, transportation, and mental health services. During their most recent event, Doctors Without Walls team set up a few intake tables, each assigned with individual scribes to record patients’ information.

Equipped with Direct Relief emergency medical backpacks, Doctors Without Walls - Santa Barbara Street Medicine is dedicated to providing street medicine to the most vulnerable in Santa Barbara County. (Maeve O'Connor/Direct Relief)
A health provider measures blood pressure while at an improvised medical outreach in the park. (Maeve O’Connor/Direct Relief)

Patients are then triaged and assigned to treatment tables, outfitted with Direct Relief field medic packs, which contain essential items needed for wound care and triage, PPE, over-the-counter medications, and are often customized with frequently requested prescription drugs. The packs are requested globally to provide care in improvised settings, and hundreds have been sent this year to places including the frontlines of the war in Ukraine to first responders in hurricane-devastated Florida and Puerto Rico.

Providers with Doctors Without Walls use the packs to treat people where they are for various conditions ranging from skin infections, respiratory and hypertension conditions and more. 

They also distribute Direct Relief-donated personal care items like soap and basic hygiene products.

Equipped with Direct Relief field medic packs, Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine is dedicated to providing street medicine to the most vulnerable in Santa Barbara County. (Maeve O’Connor/Direct Relief)

“We function as an urgent care, but our goal is to transition everyone to primary care, ultimately making our services obsolete,” said Dr. Chelsea Dean, a volunteer physician for Doctors Without Walls. 

More about Doctors Without Walls and Direct Relief’s donation of supplies and Emergency medical backpacks here

Direct Relief has provided medical support to Doctors Without Walls since 2008, including field medic packs, personal protective equipment, essential medications, including antibiotics and medicines for chronic disease management, personal care items and more.

Filed Under: , , , ,

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.