iPhone Helps Save Man Trapped 65 Hrs Beneath the Rubble of Haiti Quake

Relief Worker Relied on iPhone, Apps to Stay Alive

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Jan. 21, 2010—Compassion International's Dan Woolley is a self-proclaimed "techno-geek" - and his family and friends couldn't be happier about it.

On Friday, Woolley was safely pulled from Haiti's Hotel Montana after being trapped in an elevator shaft for 65 hours.  While imprisoned beneath the rubble, Woolley relied on his iPhone to assess and treat his injuries.  

"I could tell I was bleeding pretty badly," Woolley told NBC's Today show earlier this week. "I had the American Heart Association's first aid app on my iPhone [created by Jive Media] so I used it to figure out how to treat my injuries.  I tied my shirt around my leg to stop the bleeding and used my sock to put pressure on my head wound."  

Later, suspecting that he was on the verge of shock, Woolley used his iPhone alarm to avoid falling asleep - something to prevent at all costs for shock victims, according to his iPhone app.  By strategically turning the phone off and on, Woolley's iPhone saw him through the 65 long hours.

Prior to the earthquake, Woolley and Dan Hames - who is still missing - traveled to Haiti to film a documentary for Compassion International, the world's largest Christian child development organization.  Compassion International serves more than a million children in 25 of the world's poorest nations, working to help them permanently break the cycle of poverty.  Working in Haiti since 1968, Compassion currently serves 64,000 children across this poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

As the Interactive strategies director for Compassion International, technology is part of Woolley's every-day life.  This week, technology helped to save his life.

OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP

Compassion is urging those seeking to assist in its Haitian relief efforts to:

• Visit Compassion.com to make a donation

• Text "disaster" to 90999 to give $10

• Become a sponsor of a child in need, helping he/she thrive, not just survive
  • Child sponsors exchange letters, emails and photos, and some even visit their Compassion children

QUOTES

Dan Woolley, Rescued Compassion International Interactive Strategies Director

• "God gave me the tools I needed to survive - my iPhone, camera, people to talk to and most importantly His reassurance."
• "My iPhone was like a high-tech version of a Swiss Army knife that enabled me to treat my own injuries, track time, stay awake and stay alive."

• "I could tell I was bleeding pretty badly.  I had the American Heart Association's first aid app on my iPhone so I used it to figure out how to treat my injuries.  I tied my shirt around my leg to stop the bleeding and used my sock to put pressure on my head wound."

ABOUT COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL

Compassion International is the world's largest Christian child development organization that permanently releases children from poverty.  Founded in 1952, Compassion successfully tackles global poverty one child at a time, serving more than 1 million children-pre-natal through higher education - in 25 of the world's poorest countries.  Recognizing that poverty is more than a lack of money, Compassion works through local churches to holistically address the individual physical, economic, educational and spiritual needs of children - enabling them to thrive, not just survive.  Compassion has been awarded eight consecutive, four-star ratings by Charity Navigator, America's largest charity evaluator.

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