Hurry up and wait!
About 6 days ago, I decided, following days days of horrendous images and stories on CNN about the “Katrina” disaster; to volunteer with the Red Cross. I did this in the hope that perhaps I could do, even a little bit to help those so much more unfortunate than we. It was a strange compulsion – something I had to do – I suspect the same compulsion that Americans felt after Pearl Harbor.
So I called the Red Cross local Chapter in Rutland, VT and just made it to a three day training session to be help on September 9/10/11. A crash course in CPR, First Aid, Shelter Set Up, mass feeding etc etc. 125 of us turned up, learned and got certified in these skills.
We were told that in all probability we would be being sent to the Red Cross (RC) main shelter in Mississippi and maybe to Biloxi. The RC categorizes its shelters with CODES. The codes represent the conditions at a specific camp, and the degree of severity of the conditions there. The Biloxi shelter, at the time of writing had every, “most severe” code in the RC’s manual except for “severe cold”.
Temperatures are in the nineties in the shelter, it has 90+ percent humidity, there is still no electricity, no air conditioning, no running water, no potable water, no showers etc etc. A hell hole, but currently the only home that hundreds of displaced Mississippians have. Shelter, a bed, three meals a day, water, help and support, counseling, medical assistance. How can the RC provide such support in such short time in such condition?
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross has housed more than 207,000 survivors providing nearly 1.94 million overnight stays in 709 shelters across 24 states and the District of Columbia. The Red Cross, in coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, has served more than 7.6 million hot meals and more than 6.6 million snacks to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
I am totally impressed with the RC people I have met, their dedications and their passion. I am proud to now be a part of the RC, even if only a green junior member. It is a privilege to be associated with such people.
The Gear list – in order to be able to put ourselves up for deployment we have to be ready to be posted anywhere in the RC’s theater. Floods and Hurricane emergencies in the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana areas, shelters in far flung States now housing the Katrina refugees, forest fires in Arizona, still shelters and relief in Florida following Katrina's first pass over the USA and now pre deployment in preparation for landfall of Hurricane Ophelia, probably in North Carolina by the end of this week.
Our gear must allow us to be posted anywhere – you will not know where you are being posted until you get “the phone call” and even then you may head south, only to be diverted west whilst en-route.
Gear so you can sleep on the floor, gear to protect yourself from disease, two days supply of water, Hepatitis “A” and Tetanus shots, a health check, the list goes on.
The RC is, I suspect, quite like the military – a form for everything. The final piece of information needed is “the date you are available” You have to be able to go wherever you are sent within 24 hours of a phone call you might get at anytime following the date you give them. So everything is ready, my pack is part loaded, all my other projects are on hold for two weeks, I’m psyched. Today was the day I gave them, it’s 7:30pm in the evening and the phone didn’t ring!!!!!!!
Suspended animation................
So I called the Red Cross local Chapter in Rutland, VT and just made it to a three day training session to be help on September 9/10/11. A crash course in CPR, First Aid, Shelter Set Up, mass feeding etc etc. 125 of us turned up, learned and got certified in these skills.
We were told that in all probability we would be being sent to the Red Cross (RC) main shelter in Mississippi and maybe to Biloxi. The RC categorizes its shelters with CODES. The codes represent the conditions at a specific camp, and the degree of severity of the conditions there. The Biloxi shelter, at the time of writing had every, “most severe” code in the RC’s manual except for “severe cold”.
Temperatures are in the nineties in the shelter, it has 90+ percent humidity, there is still no electricity, no air conditioning, no running water, no potable water, no showers etc etc. A hell hole, but currently the only home that hundreds of displaced Mississippians have. Shelter, a bed, three meals a day, water, help and support, counseling, medical assistance. How can the RC provide such support in such short time in such condition?
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross has housed more than 207,000 survivors providing nearly 1.94 million overnight stays in 709 shelters across 24 states and the District of Columbia. The Red Cross, in coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, has served more than 7.6 million hot meals and more than 6.6 million snacks to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
I am totally impressed with the RC people I have met, their dedications and their passion. I am proud to now be a part of the RC, even if only a green junior member. It is a privilege to be associated with such people.
The Gear list – in order to be able to put ourselves up for deployment we have to be ready to be posted anywhere in the RC’s theater. Floods and Hurricane emergencies in the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana areas, shelters in far flung States now housing the Katrina refugees, forest fires in Arizona, still shelters and relief in Florida following Katrina's first pass over the USA and now pre deployment in preparation for landfall of Hurricane Ophelia, probably in North Carolina by the end of this week.
Our gear must allow us to be posted anywhere – you will not know where you are being posted until you get “the phone call” and even then you may head south, only to be diverted west whilst en-route.
Gear so you can sleep on the floor, gear to protect yourself from disease, two days supply of water, Hepatitis “A” and Tetanus shots, a health check, the list goes on.
The RC is, I suspect, quite like the military – a form for everything. The final piece of information needed is “the date you are available” You have to be able to go wherever you are sent within 24 hours of a phone call you might get at anytime following the date you give them. So everything is ready, my pack is part loaded, all my other projects are on hold for two weeks, I’m psyched. Today was the day I gave them, it’s 7:30pm in the evening and the phone didn’t ring!!!!!!!
Suspended animation................
posted by Peter at 7:40 PM
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