Video: Race Against the Clock

Video Transcript:

Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage and a major humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean in September 2017. Loss of life, communication blackouts and irreparable infrastructure damage affected islands across the region.

A group of patients in Puerto Rico with a chronic central nervous system disease were some of those impacted. They desperately needed to continue their daily treatment to maintain their prescribed dosing.

But for the manufacturer, the logistics of coordinating and shipping the treatment to the island in the days after the hurricane were overwhelming… No cell service, no electricity and an embargo on perishable goods into the country.

With reports of shipments being stuck in customs for several weeks, the chance of a timely delivery was looking unlikely… until the manufacturer spoke to AmerisourceBergen’s Global Specialty Logistics President, then World Courier and our sister company ICS sprang into action. Working together, we planned three potential transport scenarios to ensure that the medication reached the Puerto Rican patients in need.

We assessed a hand carry to be the best way to get the drugs to the island on time. The ICS and World Courier teams coordinated the complicated logistics, and a determined New York-based World Courier associate sacrificed his planned vacation to board a commercial flight to San Juan, via Atlanta, carrying the medication as luggage.

Just 24 hours after the planning started, the shipment arrived in Puerto Rico. Thanks to World Courier and ICS uniting in our responsibility to create healthier futures, 50 patients received their treatment. We continue to support the manufacturer in transporting drugs to the island.