Category: Red Cross

Disaster Gets Me Going

I’ve always admired seeing people respond to disasters and I’ve wished that I could be right there with them. It’s hard for me to put my finger on why I’ve felt that way, but there’s something about arriving early to a scene of a disaster that gets me going.

Terry Menge training for disaster response in Minnesota, June 2013. (Photo courtesy of Terry)
Terry Menge, wearing his Red Cross disaster response vest, demonstrates doing Red Cross disaster relief paperwork, Minnesota, June 2013. (Photo provided courtesy of Terry.)

As a child I was intrigued by disasters, whether it was a tornado, flood, hurricane or earthquake. But after school my life took different direction and I went into sales where I’ve spent much of my career, working mostly at AT&T and then with StayWell, a partnership organization with the American Red Cross. Several years ago, I accepted a health and safety services sales position with the Red Cross. This brought me closer to my life-long interest in disaster relief response. And soon I applied to become–and was accepted to be–a Red Cross Emergency Services Volunteer who responds to disasters in the Northern Minnesota Red Cross Region.

To date, I’ve had the opportunity to respond to three fire disasters: one duplex fire and two single family resident fires. It’s hard to explain, but getting a call to respond at 3:00 in the morning gets my adrenalin flowing as I never know what to expect until I get there. One of my first lessons learned was to bring my reading glasses as I felt very much unprepared in assisting my response partner in filling out forms and having to admit out loud “I can’t read this without my glasses!” How embarrassing was that! Well, never again. The next day I went straight to Office Max and bought some supplies to better prepare myself for the next response. I’m happy to report that it’s going more smoothly now that I can read the Red Cross disaster documents.

My experience with the disaster team members has been very positive. I’m learning new skills by taking training courses, such as Disaster Assessment, Disaster Action Team  Simulation, Client Case-Work, Shelter Fundamentals, Psychological First Aid, and Emergency Response Vehicle Operation.

Being a Red Cross disaster volunteer has many benefits. Having first-hand disaster response experience, for example, has added credibility to my social and business speaking presentations. But for me what’s most rewarding is being able to help people get through a difficult time. I’ve learned that a hug and kind word gives them strength to move on from tragedy. For me, each call to action brings its own unique circumstances. I’m grateful for those who’ve welcomed me to use their home, car, or other space for warmth on a winter night while I’m helping their neighbors affected by disaster. I enjoy the human connections and can confirm that the comfort we bring, the smiles we create and the words of thanks we receive are some of the reasons that I’m a disaster volunteer.

Guest Blog Post by Terry Menge, Prepardness, Health & Safety Services Sales Manager, American Red Cross Northern Minnesota Region (AND Red Cross Volunteer Disaster Relief Worker)

“I Know You”

On a sunny October afternoon, a young EMT pulled long-time Red Cross disaster volunteer Diane Dunder from the tangled wreckage of her SUV after another driver lost consciousness and struck her.  “I know you,” the young woman told Diane.  “You were my teacher in high school.”  Diane recalled how that young EMT made sure she was calmed and comforted.

Red Cross disaster relief volunteer Diane Dunder talks with Joan and John Belch.
Diane Dunder talks with Joan and John Belch about American Red Cross disaster relief services following the Germann Road Wildfire in western Wisconsin.

Two years later, Diane was at a Red Cross shelter when she ran into that young woman’s parents, who had lost their home during the Germann Road Wildfire near Solon Springs, Wisconsin, in May 2013.

“I know you,” Diane said.  Now it was her turn to provide comfort.

John Belch and his wife Joan lost almost everything in the wildfire that overnight destroyed over 8,700 acres of woodland and 77 structures, including John and Joan’s home, garage, and many of their belongings.

Joan wasn’t home when fire erupted in their yard. Earlier that afternoon John had watched fire trucks come in and out of their rural neighborhood without much concern.  Their home wasn’t in danger.  Then a sudden switch in the wind put the Belch home directly in the path of the blaze. Joan cried as she remembered learning from her son that her home was gone.

“The Red Cross was great,” John told Dunder and Red Cross worker, Nancy Rogers, who stopped in to check on them and deliver Red Cross comfort kits. “The help you gave us has really come in handy.”

The 3,000 pine trees that John Belch had planted since 1996 will never recover from the fire.  The sound of logging equipment harvesting the burned trees to be recycled into fence posts was a steady back-beat to the sound of brightly colored goldfinches that flitted through the blackened branches.  However, the Belch family is ready to start making plans, thanks in part to a twist of fate that brought them in contact with Diane Dunder and the American Red Cross.

The couple said that they’ve learned from the experience and are making sure they are prepared and have a plan in place in case disaster strikes again.

Free information about disaster preparedness is available at www.redcross.org.

Story and photo by Judy Hanne Gonzalez/American Red Cross

Postcard From Moore, Oklahoma

Dear Red Cross in Minnesota,

DR225-13 Moore OK-3I’m in Oklahoma working with teams on Community Partnerships that connect with local and visiting agencies and organizations responding to the May tornadoes, including the one that hit Moore. We’ve found more than 300 contacts, from major corporations to families, that have “pop-up” sites responding to these disasters.

We’re operating out of a Multiple Agency Resource Center in Moore. It’s similar to FEMA Disaster Response Centers, but being operated by volunteer, non-government organizations.  Here, clients check-in with a Red Cross relief worker and then move from table to table to access recovery service referrals on site. The process works well. If anything, it’s slowed by the high volume of cases. More than 3500 families are impacted.

The Oklahoma Red Cross is well prepared with strong community support and presence. From what I can see, Red Cross disaster relief functions are going strong in all functions.

We’re expecting severe weather the rest of this week and have had to interrupt Red Cross work because of it early Tuesday and probably today. Being aware and prepared starts with each of us!

From,
Pj Doyle

P.S. I’m including a photo of the disaster in Moore and a picture of me (left) with Becky Tsongen, who’s also a Red Cross community partners relief volunteer from Minnesota.

Money, Not Stuff?

Dear Everyone Who Wants to Help,

Kimberly Graham lost her home in Moore, Oklahoma. Here, she sits, holding onto a personal picture she found near her home. (Photo courtesy of Red CrossOKC)
Kimberly Graham lost her home in Moore, Oklahoma. Here, she sits, holding onto a personal picture she found near her home on May 20, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Red Cross OKC)

During a Red Cross disaster response, the best way to help a disaster victim is by making a money donation. Here’s why:

1. Financial contributions allow the Red Cross to purchase what’s needed for disaster relief operations. Monetary donations enable the Red Cross to purchase relief supplies close to the disaster site which avoids delays and transportation costs in getting basic necessities to disaster victims.

2. Donating cash allows the people affected by disaster to put money back into their local economy. Because the affected community has generally experienced significant economic loss, purchasing relief supplies in or close to the disaster site also helps to stimulate the weakened local economy.

3. Donating cash allows individuals to buy what they need. Many people affected by the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, for example, were at work during the storm. All they have are work clothes. They need of clothes and shoes to wear during the clean-up.

4. Many times people want to send stuff: small items such as collections of canned food and used clothing and shoes. But these items must be sorted and repackaged, a process that wastes valuable resources of money, time, and people that are needed for other aspects of Red Cross disaster relief operations.

Please consider making a money donation to the American Red Cross. You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, go online to redcross.org, or call 1-800-REDCROSS.

We, and the disaster survivors we help, are grateful for your support.

Andrea Bredow
American Red Cross Disaster Relief Volunteer

Wildfire Survivor Had No Time to Save Anything

Wildfire survivor Marlene Snyder shares her escape story with Christina Hujanen, a Red Cross disaster relief volunteer, Menagha, MN, May 16, 2013.

Marlene Snyder and her mother-in-law, Mona, stood on their shady back deck, crying.  Marlene gazed helplessly into the shell of her home, trying to identify anything in the charred black mess that had been her living room. 

“That was a table, here was the kitchen,” says Marlene to several Red Cross disaster relief workers who responded to the Green Valley Wildfire disaster within hours after the blaze started on Wednesday, May 15.

At first Marlene and her family weren’t worried about the house. They treated fire spots with sand and water from a hose.  Then they headed with the hose down to a barn, thinking that they could save the barn and their horses when the water stopped.  That was their first clue that their home was in danger.  By the time they returned to the house, fire had gotten into the roof and there was no time to save anything before they fled.  They left with their lives and one photo album.

“I thought I’d come back and there would be things I would recognize, things I could save,” says Marlene.  “I didn’t know I would come back to see something like this.”

Red Cross disaster relief worker Lori Dehn talks with a shelter resident, Sebeka High School, May 16, 2013.
Red Cross disaster relief worker Lori Dehn talks with a wildfire evacuee at the emergency shelter in Menagha, MN, May 16, 2013.

The fast moving wildfire crossed several county lines in north-central Minnesota. Hundreds were forced to evacuate, including residents from a nursing home in Menagha, the town that suffered most of the fire damage. More than 60 people stayed in a Red Cross shelter, waiting for news about their homes. No one, thankfully, was injured. Twelve homes were destroyed. 

Along with 400 other people, the Snyder family attended a community meeting where they learned about efforts to contain the fire as well as disaster relief services for affected families.  Many, including Marlene, expressed their thanks to the firefighters, emergency responders, and Red Cross workers for their help during the Green Valley Wildfire disaster.

To date, the Red Cross has served more than 1,000 meals and snacks, handed out more than 300 disaster relief items, including comfort and clean-up kits, and mobilized more than 40 disaster relief workers, 90 percent of whom are volunteers.

“We’re so grateful for what you’ve done,” says Marlene. “You’re doing a great job.”

Story and photos by Judy Hanne-Gonzalez/American Red Cross. Click here to learn more about American Red Cross disaster relief and how you can help.

Water, water, everywhere

It almost goes without saying that living in Minnesota means that we’re never far from a body of water. But we’ll say it anyway: there’s water, water, everywhere in our land of lakes, rivers, streams, water parks and swimming pools.

lifeguard_2010_IMG_2351_webLast year, sadly, we had in Minnesota at least 39 drowning-related deaths (not including boating accidents). Do you know that drowning ranks as the second leading cause of unintentional injury or death in children 1-14 years of age?

Because of those tragedies, and the fact that May is National Water Safety Month, we’d like to remind our Minnesota community that everyone should know how to swim and how to respond to water emergencies.

So, do you know how to swim? And does everyone you know and care about know how to swim? If the answer to either of these questions is no, then it’s time for you or that someone you know to enroll in age-appropriate swim courses. There’s no reason to feel ashamed if you can’t swim, but taking action as soon as possible and learning how to swim can go a long way toward preventing accidents in and around water.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????How about knowing CPR and first aid? It may become crucial that you carry out actions required to resuscitate an unconscious swimmer, especially in a scenario where there’s no lifeguard on duty. If you don’t know CPR, then learn now.

Also, following these rules can help prevent water emergencies and make your vacation at the beach or by the pool that much more enjoyable:

  • Never leave a child unsupervised around the water. Even where lifeguards are on duty, keep a watchful eye on younger swimmers.
  • Set/follow water safety rules for family based on swimming abilities.
  • Be conscious of any and all posted signs.
  • When possible, swim in areas lifeguard-supervised areas.
  • Have young children or inexperienced swimmers wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water, but do not rely on life jackets alone.
  • Be aware of factors like deep and shallow areas, and currents.
  • Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts.
  • Wear life-jackets when boating.

Story by Hayes Kaufman/American Red Cross. Additional sources include the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Department of Health. For more Red Cross water safety tips, please click here.

Disaster Mental Health Supports Red Cross Workers Too

Imagine that you’ve just returned home after being deployed to the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy disaster relief operation. You worked twelve-hour days for three weeks helping Sandy survivors rebuild their lives. You’re a Red Cross disaster relief worker–most likely you’re a volunteer. You’re exhausted. You’ve seen a lot. Your experiences range from the devastating to the inspiring. You could use a little emotional support, but you’re not sure how or who to ask for it.

sandi_1
Sandi Lindgren was deployed to the American Red Cross tornado disaster relief operation in Joplin, Missouri, May 2011. Photo provided courtesy of Sandi.

The next thing you know, you receive a call from a Red Cross Disaster Mental Health volunteer who’s checking in to see how you’re doing and to assist you in dealing with stress and high impact experiences. The volunteer listens to you, offers support and lets you know that you’re not alone. Sandi Lindgren could be the person who calls.

“Disaster deployments are a special kind of response that I believe calls for increased attention,” Sandi says. “When you return home friends and family usually want to know some of what you’ve experienced, but often they don’t want to know as much as you want to tell.  It’s not because they don’t care – it’s because they don’t understand, and they themselves have had life continue while you were away.  Sometimes it can be helpful to process some of these experiences in a post deployment call, to get support, ideas and sometimes just have someone to listen.”

Sandi–who also deploys to disaster relief operations away from home–most often serves the Red Cross in Minnesota as part of a team of trained and licensed mental health volunteers. Together, the team has made more than one hundred post-deployment calls to Hurricane Sandy relief workers from Minnesota.

sandi_2
Sandi Lindgren gives–and gets–a hug during the tornado disaster relief operation in Joplin, Missouri, May 2011. Photo provided courtesy of Sandi.

Though it’s a service many people aren’t aware of, this kind of outreach can make a world of difference to those it supports. For example, one volunteer says that the the Disaster Mental Health volunteer who contacted her after her return from Hurricane Sandy “went way beyond what I could ever have expected a volunteer to do in the amount of time she devoted to [my post-deployment needs] and the caring for me and the Red Cross.”

Disaster Mental Health responders worry about the negative stigma sometimes associated with mental health and want volunteers to know that talking with someone is a normal and  healthy way to process a deployment experience. Sandi explains that “The Disaster Mental Health Team and its volunteers don’t approach you and talk to you because we secretly think you’re crazy and in need of an intervention! Sometimes, we just want to chat, or meet new people, or find out what’s going on. I like to remind people that we’re the mental HEALTH team…it’s all about how to be your best, so that you can then support others in the most effective manner.”

Thank you to all of the Disaster Mental Health team volunteers for your compassionate support of our regional volunteers. Your work is truly appreciated.

Story by Lisa Joyslin, Volunteer Resources Director, American Red Cross Northern Minnesota Region. Click here to learn more about Red Cross opportunities.

Red Cross Hosts Downtown Council Meeting

councilcropThe Twin Cities Area Chapter was honored to host the April 9 meeting of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. More than 50 local business leaders joined us for lunch and learned more about preparing their families and organizations for disasters, including health and safety training, Ready Rating and AEDs (automatic external defibrillators). Participants also heard from Shane Zahn, with the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District & Minneapolis Police Department, about personal safety workshops, the SafeZone initiative and more. Even B. Safe Bear got in on the fun with Council President & CEO Mark Stenglein (pictured right with B. Safe Bear, center, and our Northern MN Red Cross Region CEO Phil Hansen, far right). Special thanks to all those who helped make the event a success!

Story and photo by Carrie Carlson-Guest/American Red Cross

Low drama, big comfort

DSC_0975_web
Jean Fisher (l) meets with Jenn Hamrick (r) in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Sometimes fires are small, but big. Sometimes flames die quickly, but people have to wait for the all clear from local officials. Sometimes dramatic pictures are few, but American Red Cross disaster responders help anyway because that’s what they do. And that was the case on Friday, April 5, when the Prior Lake Fire Department called for Red Cross help when dozens of people and their pets safely evacuated their homes. Sometimes we like to report on these low drama, big comfort fires because most fire are those not reported on major or local media.

DSC_0999_web
Newbie Jenn Hamrick learns about Red Cross forms from veteran Jeff Skoog in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Most fires are the small flame, quickly extinguished type that happen around the block, across the street or next door all the time, every day. And while the building in Friday’s fire did not burn to the ground (phew!) and people recovered most of their personal belongings (yay!), Red Cross responders checked in with those who waited to return home, provided food during the hours passed for word of safe re-entry, and listened to people’s fire stories. Most of the time for the Red Cross the every day is just that, the every day.

Story & photos by Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross.

A Few Words From Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Just in, a digital Postcard from Red Cross Volunteer PJ Doyle:

Photo credit: PJ Doyle/American Red Cross
Photo credit: PJ Doyle/American Red Cross

The 2013 Hattiesburg, Mississippi tornado was a large and violent EF4 multiple-vortex wedge tornado that devastated portions of Hattiesburg, as well as smaller communities and rural areas in the same area, during the late afternoon and early evening of Sunday, February 10, 2013.

The tornado moved into the northern part of downtown Hattiesburg, where it caused significant damage to the American Red Cross, roughly 300 homes and other buildings, as well as to the University of Southern Mississippi campus.

Thankfully, there was no loss of life.

Despite the devastation to their own facility, the American Red Cross Mississippi Region staff and volunteers were immediately active in responding to the community.  Within hours, the National ARC also activated teams to support the response.

I have been deployed as a Client Services Casework Supervisor and arrived in Hattiesburg on February 14 and began immediate services to the residents of the area shelters.  Susanne Jacobs, also from Minneapolis, joined the Client Services team on February 19.  Red Cross caseworkers help individuals with immediate, disaster-related needs by meeting them one-on-one to provide guidance and support during their recovery process.

Photo credit: PJ Doyle/American Red Cross
Photo credit: PJ Doyle/American Red Cross

Over the course of the last 10 days, the Red Cross has served more than 20,000 meals, 85,000 snacks and more than 20,000 bulk items such as blankets, clean up kits and other supplies. Nearly 30 individuals remain in shelters in Forrest and Lamar counties in the affected area.

The relief operation is moving now from the response into the recovery stage and client casework is shifting as well. For client services, this means transitioning the work in shelters, outreach and Disaster Recovery Centers into long term individual family casework. Each caseworker will be assigned up to 3 client families to work with as they determine how to return to some semblance of normalcy in their lives.

Additionally, as I send this note (and some photos from the scene) we are hunkered down as the area is under another tornado watch. Mother Nature is active with wind and rain and there is likely to be flooding to further complicate the lives here is Mississippi.

More than 200 Red Cross volunteers are on the job in Hattiesburg from all across the country and in all disaster response disciplines. Each of us are saddened by the destruction to lives and community, but we feel grateful to have the training to be able to respond in a meaningful way.

(Thank you PJ and all of the Red Cross disaster relief workers responding to this disaster. We’re grateful that you’re there helping people.)