Santa Barbara, Calif - Direct Relief has offered emergency assistance to help the people of Haiti and Jamaica recover from the devastation left by Tropical Storm Gustav.

As needs are identified with local partner organizations in country, Direct Relief will deliver requested medical aid to Haiti, where Gustav has caused extensive flooding and 51 deaths. Landslides in neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola, have killed eight people. Packing winds of 70 mph and building toward hurricane strength, Gustav is winding its way over Jamaica and is scheduled to make landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast by Tuesday.

In July, Direct Relief delivered Hurricane Preparedness Packs to its partners in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the U.S. Gulf States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The packs, which contain medical materials to treat 100 patients for a range of traumas and conditions for a 72-hour period, where developed after careful analysis of the health conditions and lack of available medications to treat them following 2005's Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Direct Relief provides humanitarian assistance on an ongoing basis to charitable health facilities in Haiti, Jamaica, and other Caribbean nations. Personal care supplies, antibiotics, analgesics, and first-aid materials are among the most commonly supplied items. Direct Relief has been providing assistance in Haiti since 1964; since 1989, it has delivered $77.5 million (wholesale) in medical material aid.

About Direct Relief International Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief works in 59 countries and has delivered more than $1 billion in privately funded humanitarian medical aid to health professionals serving impoverished communities since 2000. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for five consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California's largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org. ###