Cell phones and radios help save lives after Haiti earthquake

Tim Large, editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation''s Emergency Information Service and of AlertNet, sent in this report from Port-au-Prince.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 24 (AlertNet) - In a tiny general store in the northern suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets, Jacques Pierre jams the choke of his Honda generator and cranks it into life. Half a dozen Haitians wait in line to pay 40 gourdes (75 cents) to recharge their cell phones for a quarter of an hour.

Twelve days after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince has no power grid and no landlines. At night, the only illumination comes from the fires of burning trash and a smattering of lights on the hills of Laboule and Boutilier where the wealthy have generators.

But Haitians have cell phones, including the tens of thousands who sleep in the capital''s streets, fearful of aftershocks.

Despite the devastation to infrastructure from Haiti''s January 12 earthquake, cell phones are emerging as a lifeline for many survivors.

Just two days after the quake, a team from Thomson Reuters Foundation''s AlertNet humanitarian news service touched down in a twin-prop plane at Port-au-Prince''s international airport to set up the first-ever Emergency Information Service (EIS), offering Haitians free, practical SMS messages to help them minimize the disaster''s impact.

Despite countless logistical setbacks, EIS got off the ground in about 48 hours, and since its launch thousands have used the service to report missing persons, shelter problems and food issues.

HOW THE EIS HELPS SAVE LIVES

Just a few days after the earthquake, EIS was able to direct injured Haitians via text message to one of the few hospital able to treat patients.

The service also helped search-and-rescue teams to find people trapped in the rubble.

In one case, a man trapped for five days in a collapsed building in downtown Port-au-Prince sent a text message, which the EIS team, working through the night with experts around the world, translated into GPS coordinates. A search-and-rescue team was dispatched and saved his life.

Working with InSTEDD, an innovative humanitarian technology NGO, we created an information system allowing Haitians subscribed to the Digicel and Comcel networks to register with a simple shortcode - 4636 - to receive our free Creole-language alerts.

In addition to receiving critical news and information, Haitians can send, at no cost, text messages into the system. This ensures a stream of on-the-ground information of use to aid groups.