Direct Relief prepares 5 million N95 masks for fire season in Southern California

GOLETA, Calif. – It’s a critical time for Direct Relief as temperatures rise during fire season. 

"Well, it is very busy during fire season so we’re trying to do everything we can now to make it less crazy," said president and CEO Thomas Tighe of Direct Relief.

The humanitarian organization is creating a strategic stockpile of essential medical supplies meant for rapid deployment during wild fires.

“We focus on what will typically cause problems for a lot of patients so that’s gonna be a respiratory for people that have underlying respiratory conditions and can cause exacerbation in those conditions … and for people who don’t have respiratory conditions can be very irritating," said chief pharmacy officer Alycia Clark of Direct Relief.

“Breaking them down to more manageable sizes so they can be distributed to health facilities or locally here in Santa Barbara or something breaks that we typically work with the local authorities and set up distribution sites," said Tighe.

Right now n95 masks are being made available locally in the event of a fire. 

"Well right now we have 3 million in stock today. I think there’s another couple of million coming in," said Tighe.

The organization is currently staging pre-built modules for agencies across the region to ensure everyone's safety during wild fire season.

"My hope is we can adequately prepare and those affected by disasters are also adequately prepared," said Clark.

Direct Relief has also launched a Search and Rescue fund to further equip volunteer teams across the state.