(I don't like having this at the top of the page but this is where Geocities wants it to be
Green Eyed Granny's
As I mentioned on my main page
I do many different things within the Beaumont Chapter
Once again, I want to tell you that if you are interested in
This page and all pages on my Web sites
Thanks For Being Patient And For Making It This Far
having it here is suppose to stop the "popup ads" So, We shall see if it does stop them or not)
American Red Cross
Volunteer & Disaster Pages
I am an American Red Cross Volunteer
With the Beaumont Chapter in Beaumont, Texas
I am on the Health & Safety Committee
I am on the Disaster Planning Committee
I am a member of the Chapter's DAT (Disaster Action Team)
(DAT members respond to Disasters in their Chapter's Jurisdiction)
I am a member of the National DSHR System
(Disaster Services Human Resources)
DSHR System Members can be "Activated" to respond to Disasters
All over the United States of America or to American Territories
Then there is the International Red Cross DSHR
That responds to Disasters all over the World
I am an Instructor for the following regular classes:
CPR/First Aid
CPR/FPR (CPR For The Professional Rescurer)
BAT (Basic Aid Training)
FALP (First Aid For Little People
I am also a Disaster Class Instuctor in:
Emergency Assist To Families I (Basic)
Mass Care I (Mobile Feeding & Sheltering)(Basic)
Damage Assessment I (Assessing the Damaged Area)(Basic)
There are several different functions within the National DSHR System
In the following paragraphs, I have listed them and what each does
Every one of the Volunteers go through Red Cross Disaster Classes
to be trained in the function of their choice. Many of the Volunteers,
like myself, are "cross trained" in several of the functions. I am trained
in Mass Care (feeding & sheltering), Family Services, Damage Assessment
and also in the Health Services function. You start out as a Technician
and after getting the experience required for advancement, you can
get promotions and move on up the "ladder" to an Officer in each.
In Emergency Assist To Families, you help the people that have been
affected by the Disaster by replacing some things that they lost
because of the Disaster. These things can be things such as:
food, clothing, shoes, beds, bedding, pillows, towels, washclothes
and other items that meet their Emergency Related Needs
In Mass Care there are two separate categories. One is called
Sheltering. This means that a shelter is opened up during a Disaster
to "house" the people that have no other place to stay during this time
The Shelter remains open as long as it is necessary to have it opened
These Shelters are operated by Disaster Volunteers and there is
also Disaster Health Services on site for shelterees and staff
The other part of Mass Care is Mobile and/or Fixed feeding
Red Cross owns vehicles that are "housed" all over America
at Red Cross Chapters. These Chapters provide trained
Volunteers to drive these vehicles to a disaster when National
calls the Lead Chapter of your state to have them activated.
They are Emergency Response Vehicles or ERVs as they are
called by the American Red Coss Disaster Volunteers
Each one of these ERVs are capable of carrying enough food,
(whether it is hot or cold), to feed up to a thousand people
per meal each day. They also provide food for the shelters.
These ERVs are operated by Disaster Volunteers. The food is paid
for by Red Coss and usually prepared by the Baptist Men Association
In Damage Assessment, Disaster Volunteers go into the affected
area and do just that, Assess the Damage, so that the Job Director
will have an idea of how many Disaster Volunteers are needed
in each of the different functions. Besides these that I have already
mentioned, there are many other functions as well. Since it would
probably take all of my allotted spaced to tell you about all of them,
if you are interested in becoming a Volunteer, (whether it's locally only
or to become a Disaster Volunteer), then go to your local Chapter
of the American Red Cross and see what they have to offer
In Health Sevices, these volunteers consist of Doctors, Nurses (RNs & LVNs),
Emergency Medical Technicians (Basic, Intermediates and Paramedics)
(These Volunteers are either licensed or certified in their home states)
You may be assigned to Headquarters as Staff Health, a Service Center,
to a Shelter for the "shelterees and volunteer staff or to the Kitchen where
the Mass Care Feeding is being done from. In this function, you tend to the
emergency medical needs of the people. It can be anything from needing
minor care for a wound, glasses replaced, to needing your prescription
medicine refilled. Each person's emergency needs are evaluated on an
individual basis of loss and need. The Health Services are also responsible
for taking care of the medical needs of the many volunteers on the job.
There is also a part of Health Services called Disaster Mental Health
I have to give these Volunteers lots of credit. They not only listen to
the "problems and concerns" of the people affected by the disaster,
they also listen to the same things from the other Volunteers.
There is also a function of the American Red Cross that is called
Local Disaster Volunteers. These are the nice folks that come
to Headquarters during a disaster in their own hometown
and Volunteer their "much needed time". They might work in a
Shelter, go out on the ERV to help feed, or they may be asked
to go out with Damage Assessment. If they are in the
Health Profession, they could even work within the
Disaster Health Services. Whether they can only be there for
1 hour on just 1 day, or whether they can be there during the whole
time the disaster is going on, their "Gift Of Time andThemselves"
are greatly appreciated by the American Red Cross and the
Disaster Volunteers who leave family and homes to help when
"HELP CAN'T WAIT"
American Red Cross Volunteers DO NOT get paid when they go
out to help during Disasters. Red Cross pays our flight to and from
the Disaster, pays our motel rooms while we are there and
give us a certain amount of money to use for meals and incidentals.
This is money that has been donated to the American Red Cross
by the public. Some of the money also comes from United Way
When we, the Volunteers, are out on a Disaster, we have to give
a very accurate accounting for the monies that we spend,
right down to the very last penny. Any money that is left when
we leave the job to go back home is returned to the Red Cross
Well, I am almost through with my 5th. year of "going out"
on "Disasters". I will be starting my 6th. year on June 24, 1999,
and I LOVE IT!!! On these pages, I will be putting pictures and
stories of the different Disasters that I have "worked" during the
past five years. Even though you work from "can to can't"
(as they say), you get the job done and you come home with
lots of memories and many new "FRIENDS". I have had lots
of people ask me what I get out of all this "Volunteer Work"
that I do with Red Cross, since as I said, WE DON'T get monetary
reimbursement. I tell them that when a Client smiles and tells us,
"Thank you so very much for for being here", that, in my opinion
is not only "PAYMENT ENOUGH" but it just makes your day.
It also reaffirms the reason why I started being a
"VOLUNTEER" for the AMERICAN RED CROSS....because
"HELP CAN'T WAIT"
becoming an American Red Cross Volunteer, contact your
local Chapter for more information
Are copyrighted and all rights are reserved
Under the Copyright Laws of the United States
They CAN NOT & MAY NOT be used or altered for use
on any other site without prior permission from me.
© 3/1999 Bertha Rudisill Desormeaux
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