For the earthquake-battered people of Haiti, the help they were about to receive from miles away couldn't have come at a better time.

Dr. Robert J. Gore, an attending physician at Brooklyn's Kings County Hospital, had just met with his hospital staff in late December to support his pet project of developing an improved health network and medical training for the people of northern Haiti.

Then the Jan. 12th earthquake hit, killing nearly a quarter million people.

"As soon as we heard the news, we knew we had to shift our focus a little," Gore said. "But there was no doubt we were going. We weren't set up to be a disaster relief team, but we had some resources and some people willing to go down and help."

Gore and his team of EMEDEX International doctors recently returned from Haiti - his fourth trip since the earthquake - and now they are back in the business of providing long-term health solutions for residents of Haiti's northern Terrier Rouge region.

"Our major initiative is Rescue, Recover and Rebuild Haiti," said Dr. Christina Bloem, EMEDEX International's director. "Through this program, we will elevate the quality of care provided by doctors, nurses and other first responders."

EMEDEX International is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the global promotion and advancement of emergency medicine, disaster management and public health. EMEDEX is affiliated with Kings County Hospital as well as other U.S. emergency departments and hospitals around the world.

Part of helping Haitians prepare for their future is helping them deal with the dangers that confront them now, Gore said. One such fear is helping Haitians be better prepared for the next calamity that might occur.

For example, portions of Terrier Rouge in the north, which was largely untouched by the January earthquake, straddle an earthquake fault line and flooding also looms as a major threat to the region.

"It is sad because, in many ways, it is a disaster waiting to happen," Gore said. "So we want to bring the training and skills to help Haitian people help Haitian people."

No one had to wait for a disaster on the morning of Jan. 13th. It had already come in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which ranks as the 6th deadliest in history.