Archive for the ‘Disaster Relief’ Category
Posted on August 31st, 2011 by Lisa P.
Danielle DeVoren, VSP member (Hoboken, NJ)
Today’s post comes from our East Coast friend and VSP member, Danielle DeVoren. She shares her experience with Hurricane Irene.
This past weekend New York and the Northeast braced for one of the worst hurricanes in decades to hit its coast line.
New York (and in my case Hoboken, NJ) prides itself on being prepared, but are also often times over confident. However, with the constant warning from city officials there was no mistaking it – it was imperative to lay low!
In the 24 hours leading up to Irene’s visit, grocery store shelves were ransacked and the flashlight became the hottest commodity in town while we braced for her wrath. In Hoboken, the city literally shut down in the early afternoon on Saturday. Bars and restaurants were ordered to be closed by early evening, and ground floor apartments were subject to mandatory evacuation.
Living on the fifth floor, I just waited. There was true calm before the storm. The air was muggy and smelled like the beach. We waited… and waited… we watched the rain stop and start the wind pick and die back down. By early morning on Sunday (when I woke up) the worst was over. In cities like NYC and Hoboken, destruction was really on a block-by-block basis. Some blocks were completely flooded and some left unscathed. My block was somewhere in between, my apartment had a few small leaks in the roof (being on the top floor) and the basement of my building definitely collected some water.
As I watch the news, I realize how lucky I am, as some homes, cars and businesses in the Northeast were completely destroyed. Some of my colleagues still don’t have power. So while for me personally it wasn’t as bad as predicted, I was impressed by how my community banded together to ensure our safety.
Special note to VSP members and doctors:
- VSP Members: If your glasses were lost or damaged due to the hurricane, please call our member services support line at 800.877.7195 for reinstatement of your benefits, regardless of eligibility.
- VSP Doctors: If your practice has been affected due to the hurricane please call 800.852.7600, ext. 7373. We’d like to offer any assistance you might need so that you can provide care to your patients if you choose to do so.
File under: Disaster Relief, eye health, Eye Safety | Tagged: Disaster Relief, East Coast storm, hurricane, Hurricane Irene, vision benefits, VSP, vsp doctors, VSP member benefits
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Posted on June 2nd, 2011 by Lisa P.
Joplin, MO patients waiting to be seen on Eyenstein
At least 130 people were killed and more than 900 injured during last week’s tornado in Joplin, MO. VSP Mobile Eyes headed there right away and our mobile clinic Eyenstein and staff have been set up at Missouri Southern State University since Monday. With the help of VSP’s network of local eye doctors like Dr. Jeffrey Laferla, we are able to help victims of the tornado receive much-needed eyecare and eyewear.
VSP’s mobile eyes operations manager, Niki Myers, has been there since day one and shares her experience.
It is now our fourth day in Joplin and third day seeing patients. Each day seems to get tougher and tougher as we hear more stories from the patients and see how much they’ve suffered in their eyes. We see many patients with bruises on their faces and arms. A patient came in yesterday with a few broken ribs because her house fell on her. She was buried by her belongings. She lost everything, including her glasses.
There was another patient who had debris (fiber glass) that had gotten into her eye while she was helping clean up her neighborhood and it caused a severe infection that made the skin around her eye swell up. VSP Provider Jeff Laferla O.D. had to lacerate her eye to release the pressure.
The mobile clinic team plans to stay in Missouri until the end of this week, however, we are constantly monitoring the need of both individuals requiring care as well as our VSP doctors whose businesses have been impacted.
Check out more photos from our team in Joplin.
File under: Disaster Relief | Tagged: disaster relief efforst in Joplin, emergency eyecare in joplin, joplin tornado, VSP Mobile Eyes
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Posted on May 12th, 2011 by David C
Mobile Clinic Manager Niki Myers (right) stands with a patient who was finally able to see again with her new glasses.
After the devastating storms that plagued the South in late April, VSP Mobile Eyes set its sights on helping the affected residents see clearly again. A disaster response team of VSP employees headed to Tuscaloosa, AL, where hundreds of homes were destroyed. Our fully equipped, 45-foot mobile eye exam clinic, Eyenstein, enabled us, in partnership with students and doctors from the University of Alabama Optometry School (UAB) and VSP network doctors, to provide free eye exams and eyewear to those who lost or had their glasses broken during the tornadoes.
We set up at the Red Cross shelter in Tuscaloosa and coordinated with the UAB to provide services. Each day proved to be busier than the last. With four portable exam stations in addition to the mobile clinic, we were able to help 79 patients in one day, with a seven-day total of more than 400 patients!
Some of the patients had prescriptions so strong they literally could not see right in front of them without glasses and had to feel around them with their arms and hands. Can you imagine not being able to see after a tornado devastated your town? It reiterates the importance of VSP’s disaster response services.
To help keep up with the high volume of patients, UAB provided two to three doctors per day as well as fourth-year students to assist with pre-testing, paperwork and patient flow in the lab. Many VSP providers volunteered their time and services as well.
The scene in Tuscaloosa was heart wrenching, but it was also inspiring to see how a community comes together in times of need. On almost every corner, neighbors were providing food, water or whatever supplies were available to help each other. Bess the Book Bus, a mobile literacy program that VSP is a sponsor of, also eased children’s minds when she visited the shelter one day to read to them and hand out free books.
The team is now on its way to Pratt City, Ala., where it will set up at the local Red Cross shelter.
File under: Disaster Relief, VSP in the Community | Tagged: Alambama, American Red Cross, Disaster Relief, Tornado, tornadoes, Tuscaloosa, VSP Disaster Relief, VSP Mobile Eyes
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Posted on May 2nd, 2011 by Lisa P.
Hobby Lobby in Tuscaloosa, AL
VSP is actively conducting outreach to assist those affected by the tornadoes, flooding and severe weather that devastated numerous Southern and Midwestern states. VSP Mobile Eyes is in Tuscaloosa, AL with Eyenstein, our mobile clinic in partnership with Transitions Optical. Working with the local Red Cross chapter, and with the help of University of Alabama Birmingham Optometry students and VSP network providers, our disaster response team is identifying opportunities to provide free eye exams and glasses to victims in need.
We are working closely with all relief agencies, including the American Red Cross, to ensure all who are directly affected by the tornadoes or flooding and have eyecare needs receive that care. We have provided the American Red Cross with more than $1.15M worth of eyecare vouchers to cover eye exams and materials for anyone in the affected areas with broken or lost glasses. We are also working with our providers who may be in need of assistance to continue operations as a result of damage to their practices.
I Need New Glasses
Were your glasses lost or damaged due to one of the recent natural disasters? You have enough to worry about, so let us help you see again.
- VSP Members: Call the Member Services Support Line at 800.877.7195 for reinstatement of your benefits, regardless of eligibility.
- Non-members: Contact your local American Red Cross chapter and request a VSP eyecare voucher.
VSP Providers: How can VSP help?
We are contacting providers in affected areas as fast as possible. We will continue to follow up with those affected by the most recent tornadoes into next week. If you are in an affected area and have not yet been contacted, please let us know how you are doing and if your practice is damaged or closed. You can email vspoutreach@vsp.com or call 800.852.7600 ext. 7373. We are available to assist you to help you continue to provide care for your patients. The VSP mobile eyecare clinics are ready to provide support to doctors in affected areas as needed. Two clinics are already in affected regions, one in Little Rock, AR, and one on its way to Tuscaloosa, AL.
VSP has extended outreach efforts to the following affected areas:
- April 9th: Tornado in Iowa
- April 10th: Tornado in Wisconsin
- April 11th: Tornadoes in North Carolina, Virginia and Kaufman & Johnson Counties in Texas
- April 11th: Flooding in Fargo & Cass Counties in North Dakota and Becker & Clay County in Minnesota
- April 13th: Tornadoes in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arkansas
- April 27th: Tornadoes in Alabama and Georgia
File under: Disaster Relief | Tagged: American Red Cross, Disaster Relief, Tornado, tornadoes, VSP Disaster Relief, VSP Mobile Eyes
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Posted on March 17th, 2011 by Jessica G.
Damage at Fukushima power station; image by digitalglobe.com.
With the multi-layered disaster faced in Japan right now, it’s hard to look past the immediate needs and concerns to the future impacts of of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuculear reactor meltdowns.
There’s been much comparison of the dangers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to the disaster at Chernobyl, which happened a quarter of a century ago. While the situation in Japan appears to be less dire (although much is still unknown), scientists were able to learn much from the longterm effects of the Chernobyl meltdown that may come into play as the recent crisis unfolds.
Listening to NPR as I commuted home Monday night, I learned that a number of the Chernobyl emergency workers that were exposed to high doses of radiation developed cataracts. This connection was unknown prior to the Russian meltdown. There are mitigating factors for the Japanese: the exposure to radiation has thus far been relatively light, and there are treatments available to limit or slow the growth of cataracts.
To put it in perspective, an increased probability of developing cataracts in the future may be a minor concern to those struggling to make it through the crisis. But once the dust settles, long-term impacts will begin to reveal themselves.
Cataracts are a leading cause of blindness—I encourage any reader to stay attuned to the common warning signs:
- Painless blurring of vision
- Frequent prescription changes for corrective lenses
- Glare and haloes
- Colors looking dull and brownish
- Poor night vision
- Both sensitivity to light and finding lighting too dim
My heart goes out to the people of Japan as they fight to stay safe and cope with the loss of loved ones. I’m making a donation to the American Red Cross to help in any small way that I can. And as part of our commitment to the global community, VSP is helping double those dollars by matching up to $10,000 in employee contributions to relief funds.
File under: cataracts, Disaster Relief, Environment, Eye Safety | Tagged: cataracts, Chernobyl, disaster, emergency worker risk, eye health, Fukushima Daiichi, Japan, meltdown, radiation, vision, VSP Vision Care
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Posted on October 5th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Our
disaster response team is standing by to help those affected by the recent flooding and severe weather that have affected parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland. We’re working directly with our network doctors, business partners, and relief agencies, including the American Red Cross, to assess the situation and fulfill the eyecare needs of those directly affected.
If you’re in need of eyewear and/or eyecare services:
- Any VSP member who has lost or broken their eyewear due to the flooding can call our Member Services Support Line at (800) 877 – 7195 to have their VSP benefits reinstated regardless of eligibility.
- Individuals without VSP coverage can contact their local American Red Cross chapter and request a VSP eyecare voucher.
If you have been directly impacted by the severe weather and are in need of eyecare services, please call VSP’s Member Services Support Line at (800) 877-7195.
If you are a VSP network doctor that has been directly impacted by the severe weather and are in need of
disaster support to continue providing services to VSP members, please call the VSP Disaster Outreach Team at (800) 852 – 7600 ext. 7373.
File under: Disaster Relief, eye health, Eye Safety, Frames & Lenses, VSP in the Community | Tagged: broken glasses, disaster relied, eyewear, flood, flooding, maryland, pennsylvania, VSP, vsp menbers
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Posted on June 7th, 2010 by Liz B.
File under: Disaster Relief, VSP in the Community | Tagged: broken glasses, disaster aid, Disaster Relief, eyewear, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, red cross relief, thunderstorms, tornadoes
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Posted on May 12th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Guest Blogger Lori F.
Lori F. is a Disaster Response Team Member and Marketing Coordinator with VSP in Rancho Cordova, CA. When Tennessee was devastated with heavy rain and flooding, Lori immediately reached out to VSP Network Doctors in the area to see what her team could do. The following are just a few responses from them that shed some light on the damage caused to their professional and personal lives.
Doctor David J. Shen sat in his practice while a foot of water was being pumped out of his first floor office. Fortunately for him, most of his inventory was not significantly affected. He knew Downtown Franklin, TN and surrounding areas were overflown with flood waters so he immediately began to clean up his practice and was determined to provide patients with some level of vision care and quickly as possible.
Photo Source: Reuters
When VSP’s Disaster Response Team reaches out to our providers, more times than not, their personal lives are also affected. This is the case for Doctor John Anderson. His practice didn’t incur any damage from the flood but his home basement wasn’t so lucky. When he bought his home three years ago he didn’t think he needed to purchase flood insurance because he lived outside the flood zone. However, Dr. Anderson was thankful that we were reaching out to his community and was amazed by the quick response time.
Photo Source: Reuters
Disaster relief services are still available for those who have lost or damaged their glasses from the Tennessee flooding or any type of natural disaster. Find out how to get help.
VSP’s Disaster Response Team was formed in 2007, and since then, we’ve responded to 56 natural disasters throughout the country. We’re currently reaching out to Doctors in Oklahoma and Kansas affected by the tornadoes. My heart goes out to communities affected by natural disasters but it feels good knowing we can provide assistance when they need it most.
File under: Disaster Relief, VSP in the Community | Tagged: disaster, disaster relief services, eye exam, eye health, eyewear, private practice eye doctors, Tennessee flooding, vision, VSP, VSP Vision Care
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Posted on May 11th, 2010 by Jill N
Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.
With the disastrous Tennessee flooding continuing to cause major problems throughout the region, VSP wants to remind our doctors, members and non-members of disaster relief services available from VSP, if you are affected by the flooding or any type of natural disaster.
VSP Network Doctors in affected areas: Please email vspoutreach@vsp.com or call 800.852.7600 ext. 5697 to let us know how you are doing and if your office is damaged or closed. We are available to offer any assistance you may need so you can continue to provide care to your patients.
A car is pinned up against a tree by floodwater flowing under a bridge on Sunday, May 2, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. Severe storms dumped heavy rain on Tennessee for the second straight day. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
VSP Members in affected areas: If you have lost or broken your glasses due to a disaster and need replacements, you (or your VSP doctor’s office) can call VSP’s Customer Care at 800.877.7195 for an authorization for new services.
Non-VSP members in affected areas: If you are a non-VSP member and have lost or broken your glasses due to a disaster and need replacements, you may request a free VSP eyecare voucher from the local American Red Cross.
To find VSP doctor locations, use the “Find a Doctor” feature on vsp.com or contact Customer Care at 800.877.7195.
File under: Disaster Relief, VSP in the Community | Tagged: American Red Cross, disaster, disaster relief services, eye exams, eyecare, eyeglasses, eyewear, glasses, Tennessee flooding, VSP Vision Care
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