Prior Preperation Prevents Poor Performance. Are You American Red Cross Ready ?

What is this blog about today? The Importance of being American Red Cross Ready and being prepared to go when called. The 24 th of October the local chapter calls and says have you checked your email? I say NO, I am busy getting our shop together and ready for the busy season of Thanksgiving through Christmas that our type of shop can experience.

In my case, I needed to insulate the Huts, and set up the floor plan and insure we are in the right place for marketing our services in our area of East Central Indiana (ECI). Anyway I check the email and sure enough I am able to fill several of the needed areas for this disaster. So I check with the wife who is going through outpatient surgery for the back the day I would be required to leave, and she "tells" me, that as long as I can leave "after" her procedure it is OK with her, as she explains she could use a break from me? ? ?

So I email them the area I would be willing to deploy in and wait to hear if they select me and send me to the Wild Fires Disaster in San Diego Ca. area. They call me back saying OK you have been selected to go! You have to be on the flight and out of Indiana by Friday Close of Business. I call the ARC Travel number and go over my check list for the specific deployment. Get my reservation (Paid by the Generous Donations of the American Public) fly group 6 (if you know what that means?) and get there 1/2 a day ahead of my baggage. You just have to love Airline overbooking and yes this is part of what we mean by being Red Cross "Flexible" .

Now the only reason, that I was even considered for this deployment, was that I am a "Prior" trained and experienced American Red Cross Volunteer, am a member in the Disaster Services Human Resources (DSHR) system which is "part" of what our Local Hoosier Heartland Chapter is required to contribute volunteers to be prepared to respond in when called upon to go out in specially trained areas of need. To date, I have "volunteered" to be trained and prepared in some almost 30 different or interrelated disaster specialists, so that I may qualify to be of use in many different ways and places.

Being an old Army Quartermaster, and local Minister/Chaplain type and business Proprietor also helps a great deal. I have become a firm believer that: Prior Preparation, Prevents, Poor Performance. So I have submitted to being trained in the Red Cross forms of training, and supervision, and management. Becoming a Local Disaster Action Team (DAT) Member, working in Armed Forces Emergency Services to support our Service Men and Women and their Families is what I thought I could do to give back and as a Veteran Still Serving and member of many of our Local Veteran Service Organizations I have found a good "fit" in the American Red Cross as a Volunteer.

I have been called out and called on to "help", and count it an honor and a privilege to do so. I would encourage anyone willing and able to do so to become a Volunteer in the American Red Cross DSHR system and Local Chapter. Even as busy as I am, I made a way and had the support of family and friends to watch the business back home that enabled me to do this for others.

That and the Kind and generous support of the American People. Remember, the American Red Cross does NOT receive any finanical support from Federal, State or Local government.

I also am a DIST Instructor of many different American Red Cross classes, and hope to see you in some of our Local Classes soon, to help you realize your endevors to become American Red Cross Ready to serve Volunteer; so that you too can say, here am I, send me!

So if it is worth doing at all, then it is worth getting trained to do right.  It is part of being a good steward of the donated Dollars the Red Cross receives.

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