Learn More About Serving on a Samaritan's Purse DISASTER ASSISTANCE RESPONSE TEAM
A Disaster Assistance Response Team provides relief to victims of disaster while ↓
- water
- food
- shelter
- medical care
- war
- poverty
- famine
- disease
- natural disaster
the hope of Jesus Christ
A DART provides water, food, shelter, and medical care to victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster while sharing the hope of Jesus Christ.
Disaster Strikes
Incident Management Team Assembles
Advance Team Deploys
A small team arrives on the ground within 24 hours of the crisis to assess the greatest needs and prepare for a strategic response.
First-Wave Response Planned
Speed is critical after a disaster. The Incident Management Team works around the clock to identify initial needs based on news reports, intel from church partners, or other information. We immediately start planning a strategic response.
DART Formed
A DART is often made up of people from across the globe. Our Incident Management Team alerts DART members of urgent needs and builds the team based on the skill sets needed for each deployment.
DART members are located in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Malawi, Netherlands, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and Zimbabwe.
Cargo Trucked to the Hangar
Our warehouses are stocked with supplies ready for immediate deployment.
DC-8 Loaded
Our cargo plane’s capacity is equivalent to four tractor-trailers of cargo. It’s also specially configured for 32 passengers, allowing us to quickly get the right supplies and people on the ground.
Personnel Arrive at the Hangar
DC-8 Takes Off
Advance Team Reports Additional Needs
Our Incident Management Team makes rapid decisions to meet the greatest needs, often planning secondary airlifts before the first has even arrived. In-country procurement channels are established and additional DART members are deployed. The North Carolina-based Incident Management Team continually communicates with the field team using SAT phones and other devices when other communication channels are down.
DC-8 Lands in Country
Prior to landing in country, the advance team works with local government officials to secure customs permissions. They also secure housing and make preparations for the larger team to arrive.
DC-8 Cargo Unloaded
Cargo Transferred to Trucks
Supplies Trucked to Hardest-Hit Areas
Devotions & Prayer
My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
The DART begins each day with God’s Word and prayer, seeking His will, provision, and direction.
“The Word of God is filled with His promises that we can rely on for our every need. It is our source of strength, wisdom, direction, and encouragement.” Franklin Graham
Base of Operations Established
Once a base of operations has been determined, each team member focuses on their specific tasks. From grading a site for an Emergency Field Hospital to setting up Wi-Fi, each team member’s role is critical.
Ground Work Begins
Each response is different, but the urgency is the same.
Emergency Field Hospital Built
When local medical infrastructure is destroyed, we deploy an Emergency Field Hospital and tailor it to meet the needs caused by the disaster. Once this unit arrives on-site, our team works around the clock to build the field hospital, with a goal to begin treating patients within 24 hours or less. At its maximum capacity, the Emergency Field Hospital spans nearly an acre of land and includes an emergency room, two operating theaters, a laboratory, and more.
After Hurricane Dorian roared through the Bahamas and caused severe damage to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport, we airlifted an Emergency Field Hospital via our DC-8 cargo plane and set it up on Rand Memorial's property. Medical professionals on our DART oversaw the facility. They treated 7,747 patients and conducted 130 surgeries before operations were handed over to Rand Memorial staff. Our medical team can treat over 100 patients per day at a field hospital, including those suffering from the wounds of war, disasters, and diseases. In the wake of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, our field hospital treated thousands of patients, including many expectant mothers. The need was so great, a second maternal ward had to be opened.
Relief Supplies Distributed
When earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and other crises hit, we send in emergency shelter material, hygiene kits, household water filters, solar lights, and other critical supplies.
In 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Iota tore through Honduras and created widespread devastation, leaving hundreds of thousands of families without access to shelter, clean water, or medical care. We responded and distributed more than 2,100 hygiene kits, 3,700 personal water filters, and 6,300 tarps to storm-affected families. We also installed eight water treatment systems, which provided clean water for 20,000 people each day. In addition, we gave out 960 cooking kits and over a thousand solar lamps.
Clean Water Points Established
When disasters wipe out clean water sources, we respond with water filtration units capable of serving 10,000 people each day.
When Hurricane Dorian ripped through Freeport, Grand Bahama, a massive storm surge swept seawater inland and into many of the wells on the island, compromising the entire water table. Our DART quickly responded and installed nine water points around the city, providing clean drinking water for the immediate community and others who lived many miles away. The tanks, some holding up to 2,000 gallons, were refilled once a day because of the large demand. We also provided fresh water at eight different locations in the Abaco Islands.
Food Distributed
When people are hungry, we feed them—often airlifting emergency food rations to prevent acute malnutrition in children and assembling food kits for families who are suffering.
When armed conflict caused thousands of people in northeast Ethiopia to flee their homes, it resulted in mass food shortages. Thousands of children were in danger of severe malnutrition. Our DART distributed enough ready-to-eat food to nourish 18,000 children up to 30 days. In addition, we gave out food baskets containing rice, wheat flour, beans, oil, and salt to feed 1,000 families for a month.
The length of each disaster response is different. From three weeks to six months, we stay as long as there are urgent needs that we can meet in Jesus’ Name. DART members are backfilled as needed, with the standard deployment length lasting three weeks.
Are you passionate about the Gospel and ready to serve?
- bold?
- flexible?
- resourceful?
- ready to serve?
- bold?
- flexible?
- resourceful?
- ready to serve?
Learn how you fit into a DART.
DART team members stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. They thrive under pressure and have a heart for sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those who are hurting. If that sounds like you, prayerfully consider joining us. As Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
“We bring physical relief and the message of the Gospel to hurting people after a disaster. Is there a sense of urgency? Yes, there is!” Edward Graham Chief Operating Officer, Samaritan's Purse
