Winter Park patrollers stay on the cutting edge of avalanche rescue with C-RAD

For patients with tuberculosis, it is vital that they take their medicine consistently and on schedule, even after they are no longer contagious, which can be time consuming and expensive for public health departments to manage. Teleconferencing has helped people remember to take their medications, even during a disaster like Hurricane Harvey.

FEMA’s response to Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Irma has been the “longest sustained domestic airborne food and water mission in the nation’s history. The agency has never distributed more food or installed more generators.” However, due to bureaucracy and delayed decision making, there are still thousands of Puerto Ricans who have not received aid, or were underserved.

Solar power is a great advancement for renewable energy, but traditionally relies on connecting to a grid in order to function correctly. So when hurricanes hit Puerto Rico, even those with solar panels lost access to electricity. A micro-grid offers an alternative solution, however, by relying on battery power.

UNICEF is owner of some of the world's largest humanitarian warehouses, where workers and automated robots work in tandem to ensure that the kits that can help children and families in emergencies are ready to go whenever they are needed. The robots help to pull out supplies and keep track of expiration dates, and UNICEF uses its purchasing power to "push for innovations" that help everyone in their mission.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, amateur radio help connect communities with emergency response teams. Across the United States, amateur radio stations are acting as frontline communication systems for those who have no other method of communication. Organizations like Oregon’s Jackson County Amateur Radio Emergency Service provides training and skill -building and -sharing for participants, who are then able to use those skills in an emergency or disaster.

Europe's generous social policies, such as allowing employees to retain their salaries while taking sick time to care for themselves or family members, may help to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak while also safeguarding the economy. Although the long-term impacts are yet unknown, in the short term, government-provided incentives are helping people and businesses stay afloat.

In Los Angeles, the city-led effort, Project Roomkey, is working to get 15,000 people experiencing homelessness into hotel rooms in the fight against COVID-19. Working with the LA Homeless Services Authority and state negotiators, partnerships with hotels are being developed and are already housing some of these individuals. While costing nearly $190 million, it is helping save lives and hopefully keeping hotels afloat.

As the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, the San Antonio Food Bank is working with other organizations to get more food out into the community. Although volunteer turnout has decreased, the Texas food bank has partnered with groups like Pre-K 4 SA to hand out food to students and their families. Every day, the food bank says it is sending $500,000 worth of food into the community.

Volunteer citizen seismologists in Haiti are collecting data on earthquakes and aftershocks with equipment provided by researchers to better understand seismic hazards and fault locations in the country.

A Cup of Cold Water is a volunteer collaboration between four local Episcopal churches that has been providing assistance to residents who lost their homes in the recent wildfires through the group’s community outreach program. Since a day after the wildfires started on August 8, volunteers have driven a van around the island to distribute supplies like toiletries, food, clothing, bottled water and other necessities.