Current Events: Team Rubicon - The Final Update

Saturday, January 30, 2010

TR Operations Cease in Haiti
Team Rubicon operations have ceased inside the nation of Haiti. The leadership within Rubicon has come to the conclusion that Team Rubicon has completed its mission of bridging the gap between the earthquake and large aid agency response.

As of 1900 hours local, TR2 began travelling back to the US, with a small contingent of volunteers remaining behind to continue working at CDTI Hospital (under no affiliation with Team Rubicon).

Organizations such as the UN and Red Cross have finally reached full speed in their logistics and medical employment; as such, Team Rubicon can no longer operate within the scope of its mission in Haiti. Food and water are being delivered, acute and traumatic injuries have been treated and hospitalized, and operating rooms are working at capacity. The continued employment of small, self-sustaining Team Rubicon elements is no longer a cost effective solution; our dollars spent per life saved will now exceed large NGOs for the first time since the earthquake.

Now that operations have ceased, Team Rubicon has much to do. We have determined to continue developing and perfecting our model of deploying small, rapid-response, autonomous medical teams into afflicted areas.

We want to do this the right way. As a result, we are going to grow slowly, without sacrificing our vision or our mission; and we hope that you will follow and support us on our journey. We want you, our donors and supporters, to feel like you have a vested interest in how we respond to disasters. We believe that running this organization with transparency will give you greater satisfaction as you support us with your hard earned money during future disasters.

Here is what you can expect from us in the coming weeks:

An OpEd published in a major US newspaper explaining our methodology and our results.
A case study submitted to Washington Think-Tanks with the aim of influencing large NGOs to adopt some of our concepts.
A thorough After Action Report, detailing what we did from start to finish, what went right, what went wrong, what we learned and how we are going to improve. We will publish this AAR on our website, and we will circulate it in a newsletter to you via email.
A professionally produced YouTube trailer from Third Story Films, and later, a full documentary. TSF and Team Rubicon have entered into a contractual agreement, whereby TSF will produce a documentary at no cost to TR, utilizing film shot by the team in Haiti. A revenue sharing agreement has been reached, and all revenue will be used to further develop Team Rubicon for future operations.
An organizational flow chart, detailing how we plan to develop, equip and staff Rubicon teams on both the East and West Coasts.
Additionally, as the new President of Team Rubicon, I feel a fiduciary obligation to offer you the following. Our donors pledged and donated their hard earned money to Team Rubicon to support our operation in Haiti. Many of you donated, thinking that it was just going to be myself, Jeff Lang, William McNulty and Craig Parello, and then watched in amazement as this organization grew beyond expectations. Because we have raised more money than we have used in Haiti, I would like to offer you the portion of your unused money back, in case you would like to redirect to an agency still working in Haiti. We feel that it is important for you to know that we will never waste nor misappropriate your money, and this is how we'll prove it (ever heard of an NGO, or the government for that matter, returning a budget surplus??). The details of how we will do this will be sent in a newsletter this week, and it will be optional.

That said, please know that we plan to grow. Haiti has been a learning ground from Day One, and we know that we are on to something. We WILL be among the first NGOs with boots on the ground in future disasters; and we will arrive better equipped, better trained and more experienced.

However, the one area we appear to have an NGO monopoly on, is that we will employ teams led by individuals who are intelligent, decisive and PRONE TO ACTION.

I hope you decide to continue following and supporting us on our journey as we seek to shift the paradigm in disaster response.

I will leave you with this, "If a disaster struck your city on a scale such as Port au Prince, who would you want to come save you in the initial 24 hours?"

-Jake Wood
President, Team Rubicon