Iridium helps in Haiti

February 22, 2010 - Iridium Communications announced today that the Mexican Red Cross, the United Nations and multiple other Mexican government agencies have increased their usage of Iridium 9555 satellite phones in support of Haiti relief and recovery efforts.
These customers had the ability to make their Iridium phones and service operational within minutes of arriving in Haiti for use following the January 2010 earthquake, which made land-based and cellular communications unavailable.

"Instant communications play a vital role in our ongoing disaster relief and recovery efforts," said Isaac Oxenhaut, national disaster relief coordinator of the Mexican Red Cross. "The Mexican Red Cross is using Iridium service for reliable, real-time communications between our team in Haiti and our headquarters in Mexico."

"Iridium is a mission-critical component of relief organizations operations. Our service is the only reliable mobile option after a disaster when terrestrial infrastructure is down," said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, global distribution channels, Iridium. "Iridium handsets are simple to use and make training a straightforward process for first responders. This is valuable to relief organizations, which have a regular stream of new volunteers and expanding missions."

Source: Iridium