Hat tip to Renphoto’s Blog for her great volunteer work and for letting us know about Eric’s great work! Keep it up!
As Todd and I were doing some more volunteer work for the Red Cross… we came across another volunteer named Eric Kiltz. At first he seemed like an ordinary guy… volunteering his medical expertise. Somewhere during a conversation that night, he explained to me that he will be the President of the United States in 2036. I smiled… and he looked at me with a serious expression and said “Don’t laugh, I’m serious”. I continued to smile and shook his hand once more. Except this time, I was shaking a future president’s hand!
I thought it was great… you’ve got to cherish each little random moment in life
How Does Social Media Keep You Prepared for Emergencies?
Our good friends John Solomon and David Stephenson are always beating the pavement about ways the average person can use the technology tools they already have to save themselves in emergency situations.
Humor in Disaster
A Canadian Red Crosser is deployed to the Hurricane Ike response. This post describes how he got through the tough times.
Dracula Visits Red Cross
A budding film student created this highly entertaining scenario where Dracula visits a Red Cross blood drive.
Join our Roadblock Tomorrow
In September we asked you all to help us raise awareness for the Campaign for Disaster Relief by showing your support online on Friday, September 19th. Thank you!
Holiday Mail for Heroes - The First Cards Are In
You all made our Holiday Mail for Heroes a resounding success. Military members and their families all over the world are thanking you for your generous words and encouragement.
-By Bob Wade, DAT Night Team Leader/Supervisor — ARC of SE Wisconsin — Milwaukee, WI.
Christmas Morning — Thursday, December 25, 2008
At 2:10am this morning my teammates and I were dispatched to a working structure fire on the southwest side of the city here in Milwaukee.
Upon arrival at the scene, I was told that there were two victims from the 2-story, single family dwelling–a mother and her son.
The mother was being transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and the son had refused treatment at the scene.
A police officer told me that they were over in the home next door at that moment. The paramedics were loading the woman on to a gurney as we approached the front door to the neighboring home. Her son was inside, completely covered with smoke residue, his face a dark ashen color of gray.
“I started a fire in our fireplace at around 9pm and at around 2am I took the poker and attempted to get the fire to go out so I could go to bed,” he stated.
“One of the logs fell out of the fireplace and rolled underneath the Christmas tree and it started on fire,” the young man continued.
Upon entering the home to do a damage assessment, we saw about a 6-foot tall skinny trunk of a tree still sticking out of the Christmas tree stand. It had been set up only a few feet from the fireplace. All of the needles and branches had burned away. The presents and carpeting beneath where the tree stood were all burned up. The large-screen TV to the left of the fireplace was melted and every wall in the room was blackened from about the waist up.
A Milwaukee Police Officer asked if we had gone upstairs yet. He stated that there was extensive smoke damage to all of the rooms on the 2nd floor.
As the young man’s sister arrived from her home to help, we gave him a Red Cross Fire pamphlet and explained its contents. This family had homeowner’s insurance so there wasn’t much else for us to do there. They had an alternate place to stay and were headed over to the hospital to check on their Mom.
The lesson learned there is to always keep your Christmas trees and decorations well away from all heating sources. It doesn’t take but a spark to light a Christmas tree on fire.
- This post is by Claire Sale, Red Cross social media guru. This post has been re-posted from the Online Newsroom.
On December 20, a passenger plane skidded off a runway in Denver Colorado. Charley Shimanski, CEO of the Mile High Chapter, describes the Red Cross response:
In all, 38 people were transported to five local hospitals, and the chapter responded to each of these hospitals. At [Denver International Airport], we assisted Continental [Airlines] in the establishment of a Friends and Family Reception Center (FFRC). This was staffed with Health Services, Mental Health, and Mass Care volunteers. The FFRC helped to link families back together from the incident.
The families that were traveling to Houston and in need of lodging were bussed to a local hotel by Continental, and the two Red Cross Mental Health Care professionals that had been at [Denver International Airport] after the incident stayed the night at the hotel with those passengers. Our Mental Health Care professionals also accompanied those passengers back to Houston the following morning on the Charter aircraft that Continental provided.
It is widely known that the Red Cross offers basic health services, sheltering, and food in times of need. Many people, however, do not realize that the Red Cross responds to aviation incidents, provides services to family members, and offers mental health counseling immediately after traumatic events.
Disasters are traumatic. Red Cross workers are specially trained to identify and address need as well as trauma that disaster victims and their families experience.
You can become a Red Cross volunteer by contacting your local chapter.
Looking at boston.com’s The Year 2008 in Photographs this morning, I was struck by how many of the photos involved events the American Red Cross responded to this year.
Tropical Storm Hanna
The Big Picture’s photo of the year #4
The American Red Cross obviously responded to Hanna in the United States, but wewerealsopresentinhard-hitGonaives, Haiti.
Sichuan, China Earthquake
The Big Picture photo of the year (part 1) #6
The American Red Cross has contributed $14 million to support the relief and recoveryefforts of the Red Cross Society of China.
I so rarely have felt it in my life. I have felt accomplishment and pleasure and relaxation…but rarely joy.
Until today…today in Portland there was a boreal snowstorm…wicked cold…and this is me saying its cold. But while on patrol I gathered up a handful of snow and I made a snowball. That’s it just a snowball..and then I threw it a Red cross fleet car. It hit the rear windshield and asploded. That’s it.
But I just started laughing like a four year old. I laughed for like ten minutes…just non stop. IT was different and I just knew it….I hadn’t felt like that for years. It didn’t last..but for a fleeting moment…I was just purely joyful.
To reiterate just how important the Campaign for Disaster Relief is, Mother Nature is handing much of the United States some winter doozies right now. Your American Red Cross is providing services such as warming centers, shelters, and food and blankets in the affected areas.
Yours truly is putting on layers now to head out to our 17th Street building here in DC with all of my colleagues. I’ll try to report back later with pictures.
In the meantime - do your part!
Your incentive (besides feeling good that you’ve just made someone affected by a disaster a little more comfortable) ?
If you donate $100 or more today you’ll receive an official vintage first aid kit.
