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NYC Medics Wishes Former Director Good Luck

March 18, 2010 To the Members and Friends of NYC Medics: In 2005, Nick Lobel-Weiss was instrumental in bringing together the group of doctors and paramedics that traveled to Pakistan in response to the devastating South Asian Earthquake. His work has been critical to the formation and continued success of NYC Medics. Obtaining clearance and direction from the highest levels of the World Health Organization(WHO) and at the invitation of the Pakistani government, Nick worked with a team of like-minded volunteers to rapidly assemble the personnel, medications and supplies to outfit a small mobile relief operation. Their team traveled to Kashmir and ventured into remote areas of the Jehlum Valley, a rugged region near the contested border with India. This group quickly became the most forward deployed medical team in the Jehlum Valley, a place where help had not arrived, even 2 weeks after the earthquake. This group of 13, coordinated by Nick and others, treated over 2,000 patients in less than two weeks. The group' s rescue mission in Pakistan was profiled on CBS 60 Minutes, which won an Emmy Award for the story. Upon his return, Nick, in collaboration with clinicians who had traveled to Pakistan and volunteers at home founded NYC Medics, an organization that responds to the health needs of people in disasters worldwide, rapidly deploying emergency health professionals to provide critical medical care. With the Pakistan crisis far from over, Nick and others raised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in in-kind commitments within three months. This included contact with senior members of the Weyerhaeuser Company who, in response to Nick' s request, fabricated winterized shelters for homeless quake victims. Nick convinced United Parcel Service to provide shipping valued at over one hundred thousand dollars and worked with the UN's International Organization of Migration to ensure that shelters reached the most needed locations. Under WHO's auspices, NYC Medics returned to Pakistan in early 2006, this time to the Northwest Frontier Province, where they constructed a field hospital with a 24 hour emergency room, treating 550 patients per day while managing distribution of the shelters. Since 2006, NYC Medics has worked to support disaster relief efforts in China, Myanmar and throughout the world. Within minutes of the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, Nick and members of NYC Medics were planning a way to respond. An NYC Medics advance team and surgical response team, registered with the United Nations, was deployed within 96 hours. The first, full NYC Medics Medical Response Team was deployed to Port-au-Prince a few days later, providing life saving care in hard-hit, under-served areas within Port-au-Prince. Since the Earthquake, NYC Medics has deployed one Rapid Surgical Response Team, three Medical Response Teams, and two teams affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. In total, over 20,000 patients have been treated by nearly 60 clinicians, thanks to the work of NYC Medics. With the recovery and rebuilding phase underway in Haiti, Nick has founded another organization, Global Emergency Relief. While we understand that Nick will need to dedicate himself to this important work, and thus can no longer serve on the Board of Directors, we believe that his love for NYC Medics and the people we serve will never subside. NYC Medics congratulates Nick on his new endeavor to help people in need and wish him the best of luck. Steve Muth, President