Legends Subdivision Wildfire May 12, 2012

Legends Subdivision wildfire contained at 200 acres scnow.com

The Disaster Team Public Service Announcement

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Work Cited "The American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund." York-Adams Chapter |. 2011. Web. 04 May 2012. . "TEST - Our Services." Object Moved. 2010. Web. 04 May 2012. . "HUMMER Adds to American Red Cross Disaster Response Capability." AutoMotoPortal.com. 2007. Web. 04 May 2012. . "Disaster Services." Coastal Bend-Texas Regional Chapter |. 2012. Web. 04 May 2012. . "Welcome to the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross." Welcome to the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross. 2010. Web. 04 May 2012. .

The American Red Cross Wordle




Wordle for The American Red Cross Interview

 

Solutions for the Problem

The problem in my community is that people are not informed of many disasters and how to be prepared. I think the way to solve the problem is educate the community about preparing for disasters, recruiting volunteers for The American Red Cross Disaster Team, and training more volunteers for disasters.

Raise Awareness of Disaster to the  Community

The Red Cross Myrtle Beach Disaster Team tries to educate children and young adults about the importance of being ready for disasters. They visit Horry County Schools to teach elementary to high school students about having a safety kit in case of a hurricane or fire. Also, children quite often pass forward this information to their families. “Therefore, the best way to make your family and your home safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes” (The American Red Cross.org).

Recruiting more volunteers for The American Red Cross Disaster Team

 Wendy Spring, (office manager of The American Red Cross Coastal Chapter) stated that,"There is a high need for many volunteers at The American Red Cross, because without volunteers there is no way we can help the people." She recruits people from a registry of volunteer applicants. In conclusion, they train volunteers to be be first responders of multiple types of disasters.

Training volunteers for Disasters

The author, Jeff Tucker, explains in his article,  (“The Red Cross conditioning training for volunteers,”) that volunteers at the Red Cross are being trained  regularly and are taking many classes to prepare themselves for disasters. Recently, the Red Cross Disaster Team had 160 volunteers in Myrtle Beach, and they trained on March 14, 2012. The volunteers participated in a hurricane exercise in which they reenacted a real disaster. They started 8:00 AM that morning and broke into teams in their emergency operation center. The teams consisted of supply, damage assessment, shelter, feeding, and client case work. These are needed when a disaster occurs and are important to the process of dealing with a disaster. The exercise ended at 4:00 PM, and I had a chance to see what would happen when a disaster occurs and they reported about whom they helped and their progress. 

Spring, Wendy. Personal Interview. March 14. 2012.

Tucker. Jeff. “Red Cross Conducting Training for Volunteers”. EBSCO HOST.com. 22 May 2010. 10 March 2012. < http://www.chieftain.com.>

Disaster Services”. The American Red Cross.org. 2012. 25 March 2012. < http://www.redcross.org/>

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Educate the Community about Disasters

Interview at The American Red Cross

During the course of volunteering at The American Red Cross, I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Wendy Spring, office manager.

1. How do disasters impact our community?
-People are displaced from their homes, children have to leave school, and people move away because they lost their home in a disaster.

2. What is the importance of having a Disaster Team?
-To take care of people who suffer from disasters like fires and tornados.

3.How does the Disaster Team help the community?
-Provides emergency support to victims of disasters such as: lodging, food, and clothing.

4.What are some ways people can help the Disaster Team?
-By donating money and volunteering at the Red Cross.

5.What are the different projects that the Disaster Team does?
-They feed firemen at the scene of the fire, put people into shelters, and provide food.

This information is important to the issue of preparing the community for disasters and raising awarness of disaster. Also, it explains the importance of the Disaster Team and how they influence and provide services to our county.

Experience Volunteering on The American Red Cross Disaster Team

For eight weeks I volunteered on the Disaster Team at The American Red Cross Coastal Chapter in Myrtle Beach.  The Disaster Relief Team is a group of volunteers who prepare for disasters in our country and are the first people on site when a disaster occurs. They help by providing supplies, shelter, and food to victims of disasters in their community. I worked with disaster team director,Lou Palm, and Mrs.Wendy Springs, the office manager, of the chapter. I helped them by  filing  hurricanes relief forms, labeling locals maps where hurricanes may strike, and creating brochures which helped victims recover from a disaster. Also, I worked in their office to answer the phone, make copies, and printed important  documents. This work experience allowed me the opportunity to take part in a hurricane disaster exercise. The volunteers were separated into groups dealing with a specific needs such as  damage assessment, client case work, and providing shelters for victims. At the end of the exercise, all the volunteers came together to report their findings and progress. Also, the weaknesses and strengths of the exercise were discussed in order to make suggestions for improvement. I learned about how to prepare my community for disasters in our county. In the future, I will continue to volunteer at the American Red Cross on the Disaster team and raise awareness in my community about disasters and how to prepare for them.

Being Prepared for Disaster

The problem in our community is that individuals are not aware of disasters and are not prepared for them. The reason for this problem is that people do not think about disaster and are not educated enough to prepare for them. I had the chance to interview Lou Palm, the head director of the American Red Cross Disaster Team, he stated "Since July 2011, two hundred people in the Red Cross Columbia Region were displaced by home fires”. Overall, the problem in this area is that people are not informed of the many disasters we may face in Horry County and how to be prepared.

Palm, Lou . Personal Interview. March 13. 2012.

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