American Red Cross Hosts Shelter and Disaster Training for Preparedness Day
The American Red Cross relies on volunteers to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.
ABC 31 News Reporter Keisha Swafford has the story on how the Red Cross prepares the community for disasters.
The American Red Cross is looking for volunteers for their shelter and disaster training and it’s free to the public.
Red Cross Volunteer LeeAnn Murphy says, “Volunteerism has proven to be such an endorphin rush. People who volunteer are happier, they live longer lives, they’re more engaged with their community so there’s some give and take there. I think you get far more than you give when you’re a volunteer.”
When disaster strikes, the Red Cross needs to know how to help victims in need.
“That’s the heart of every service organization we have is our volunteers. We don’t have a huge staff at any of these non-profit organizations. They have one or two staff members, I think two staff members here in central Louisiana that are paid by the Red Cross, but there are hundreds of volunteers who are willing to do the work and make it happen.”
For Preparedness Day, volunteers will learn how to save lives through CPR and water safety training.
“Disasters happen all year long unfortunately from home fires, single family disasters, to big disasters, tornadoes and floods and fires, so we are getting our public ready.”
Murphy says volunteers will be trained to run a shelter and respond to emergencies.
“If you’ve ever thought you want to get involved, you want to be able to help to go out and help a family who’s had a home fire, you want to be able to work in a shelter when there’s an emergency or you want to be in the office and help with those things or drive the emergency response vehicle, or work with Catholic Charities or the Interfaith Counsel, if you’d come on out that morning, at 10 o’clock, we’ll get you signed up and you can stick around and do the training up that day.”
The Red Cross training starts on Thursday, May 11th at 1 PM on 425 Bolton Avenue.