AIHAIn response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross to help with the ongoing relief effort in the northeast U.S.

The Red Cross has indicated that donations are still urgently needed and that donated funds are being used to bring food, water, relief items and other supplies to affected areas. AIHA is encouraging individuals to donate to the Red Cross at www.redcross.org.

AIHA has also coordinated with the regional offices of OSHA and the AIHA Metro New York Local Section to ensure the timely delivery of personal protective equipment and other supplies related to health and safety. The AIHA Metro NY section has established a distribution center at Hunter College School of Public Health located at 2180 Third Avenue (NW corner of 119th Street and Third), New York, NY. Through this distribution center, members of the local section are able to service New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey, in addition to the fifteen 501(c)3 organizations who have requested assistance through the regional OSHA offices.

AIHA extends its sincere gratitude to Draeger Medical Inc., which responded to the association’s call for items and contributed over 56,000 N95 units to the relief effort. In addition, AIHA thanks the members of the Metro NY local section for their valuable assistance with the relief effort.

Supplies are still needed, including:

• Tyvek suits/waterproof coveralls/cut-resistant chaps

• moisture meters/battery powered CO meters

• disposable booties/waterproof boots

• gloves

• goggles/hard hats /ear plugs/N95 face masks

• decontamination supplies

• plastic garbage bags

• knee pads

• fire extinguishers

For further information regarding donations or requested items, please contact Jack Caravanos, DrPH, CIH and EOHS Program Director at Hunter College, at jcaravan@hunter.cuny.edu, or Cathie M. Mannion, OSHA’s Assistant Regional Administrator for Technical Support, at mannion.cathie@dol.gov. In addition, suppliers wishing to ship donated items should coordinate with Caroline Lacey, AIHA Expo Manager, at clacey@aiha.org.