Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Red Cross local chapter prepares for disasters

By Heather Sheedy
Staff writer
heather@bluemountaineagle.com

	Tony Scheibe (left), an American Red Cross logistics lead with the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, John O’Neil of Redmond, and local Red Cross volunteers, Wayne Witty, Ben Hyde and George Sintay stock Grant County’s Emergency Response Vehicle. Red Cross Emergency Services director Bobbie Bourne of Bend stands at the right background. The Eagle/Heather Sheedy

JOHN DAY — The American Red Cross’ Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) based at John Day is now better stocked since receiving more than 100 new cots, blankets and comfort kits on Dec. 5.

Tony Scheibe of the Red Cross’ Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) delivered the new goods. Scheibe has a military background and is the logistics lead from Pendleton. He ensures ERVs have an inventory of supplies and are ready to meet the need in emergencies.

During a potluck meeting Dec. 4 at the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Bobbie Bourne, director of Emergency Services headquartered in Bend, addressed the group. She focused on developments within the organization, especially the response area which recently increased from 14,000 square miles to approximately 40,000 miles. The area now stretches between Mt. St. Helens, Wash., to Klamath Falls and includes 14 counties in Oregon and two in Washington, plus an arrangement with the Native American tribes. The Rolling Prairie District covers Umatilla, Morrow and Grant counties; Grant County is within the Mountain River Chapter.

At the gathering, Bourne also stressed that the Red Cross is run by donations, not government funding, despite the fact that it is under government mandates. Even though the organization has planned and received grants, funding is waning while the workload is not.

Also in attendance was John O’Neil of Redmond, a special communications liaison who takes charge of operations when Bourne is unavailable. O’Neil has a background in law enforcement, and became involved with Red Cross after 9/11.

Scheibe noted that Grant County and the Rolling Prairie District in general has a reputation — “and it is a good one.” With 14 ERV trailers strategically located around in the district, he states that it is one of the best-equipped in the nation. He also presented the local Disaster Action Team (DAT) with further information related to the intended destruction of chemicals stored at the Umatilla Depot.

Last Friday, Bourne, O’Neil and Scheibe toured the Umatilla Depot — an Eastern Oregon chemical/munitions stockpile. The stockpile is comprised of chemicals, including agricultural insecticides, nerve agents such as mustard gas and VX, and explosives such as rockets and landmines. While a substantial portion of the area has already been cleared, there is still more to do. The Depot is currently in the testing phase, burning furnaces to test temperatures. The first live burning happens in June 2004. The upcoming plan for clean-up is part of an international treaty to eliminate the threat of chemical warfare. This is not an isolated local event as similar plans are underway across the nation at other storage locations. By 2012, the demilitarization project must be completed. The imminent concern is for the safety of the 5,500 residents around Umatilla and 70,000 people who live within 12.5 miles of the depot.

Oregon is the only state that has specifically contracted with the Red Cross to assure that evacuee support is in place during the process, says Scheibe. And the Red Cross does not take its job lightly. Bourne insists that the Red Cross is not “just sitting around waiting for something to happen.” Many man hours of training and planning go into Red Cross volunteers being prepared to do their work at the Umatilla Depot and any other emergency that could arise. In essence, the Red Cross is all about “neighbors helping neighbors” in a time of need.

Joan Bowling of Canyon City and Nancy Nickel of John Day serve as Red Cross co-chairmen for the local DAT. Bowling teaches introductory courses such as Disaster Services, Mass Care and Shelter Operations.

“These classes give an overview of mass care and how to organize the services that are provided in a shelter — registration and response to inquiries, handing out comfort kits, and setting up for feeding and sleeping,” says Bowling. These classes are planned for late January, but more people are needed to fill the roster.

Susan Sintay of John Day is certified to teach Standard First Aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), usually given in spring and fall.

“These are basic first aid and CPR classes for John Q. Citizen to give a person a better idea of how to respond to a situation,” says Sintay. “The first thing is how to take care of yourself and those around you. Look over the scene and be aware of hazards. If there is a loose wire, you don’t want anyone walking into that.”

Sintay came into her job as instructor with some experience. As a youngster in Grant County she had taken junior lifesaving classes and during the 1950s taught swimming lessons. After marrying and starting a family, she came face to face with the importance of knowing lifesaving skills — her 1-year-old son almost drowned and she applied her skills until emergency crews arrived. Her son is now a healthy young man in his 20s. In the 1980s Sintay sharpened her skills through training courses and since then willingly passes on her knowledge.

Registration is underway now for local classes that will be offered after the first of the year. Courses are free to Red Cross volunteers, but could cost $40 or more under other circumstances. After the basic core courses, people decide for themselves where they want to focus their energies and talents within the organization. Red Cross certification are honored nationwide.

Nickel is another person who knows first-hand the value of good training. She took introductory Red Cross classes locally, advanced courses in Bend, and finished her ERV training in Redmond during the summer of 2003. After fulfilling training requirements for Disaster Services Human Resources (DSHR), a person is qualified for the team, but must ask to be accepted into service. Nickel made the request, and was called up almost immediately. In late August she headed for her first“incident”— the forest fires near Sisters that grew into the expansive B&B Complex Fire. She served as a shelter manager for two nights out of the 27 days which the shelter was used. In October, Nickel was asked to go to Washington state to help victims of the flooding at Mt. Vernon. When she returned to John Day, she then was deployed to Southern California to help Red Cross efforts during the Level 5 wildfires in the San Bernadino area. Nickel and Bob Mair of Mitchell drove an ERV from Bend to California. The vehicle was designed to provide food, snacks and water for up to 500 people. Overall, 60,000 people were evacuated and many utilized the shelters’ services.

Red Cross DSHR volunteers agree to serve on three-week deployments. It is volunteer work, but Red Cross pays travel expenses. Safety of Red Cross volunteers is always of paramount concern despite being in close proximity to the incidents. Yet, highly regimented training aids the level of safety by ensuring all volunteers receive the same instruction and are prepared to follow the plan of action in setting up shelters and dealing with the many other aspects of the emergency at hand.

The Red Cross could be called to help with any kind of emergency — from single-family home fires to a motel fire or wildfire, to earthquakes, floods, chemical spills and other major catastrophes. The goal is for the local DAT, which is always the first-Red Cross responder, to set up a shelter within two hours of a call. After that there are many aspects of maintaining the shelter and serving the people for the duration of the emergency. To accomplish this, devoted and enthusiastic workers are needed. Grant County’s Mountain River Chapter of the American Red Cross has approximately 30 people on the roster, but not all are active. The bulk of Grant County’s Red Cross volunteers are in the John Day area. Bourne’s wish is that the outlying areas join the effort to establish Red Cross teams in all areas of Grant County because when an emergency or disaster happens, the response time will be lessened if there are trained personnel at hand. The basic plea from Bourne, Scheibe, Bowling, Nickel and Sintay is the same — more volunteers.

“Once you get into this, there are many opportunities to advance in the leadership,” says Bourne. People with varied skills are needed. The free training is educational and also includes team-building skills. All volunteers begin at entry level, and may advance to technician, specialist, coordinator, assistance officer and officer.

“If people see what we are doing and want to be involved, give Joan or Nancy a call,” urges Bourne.

For more information, call Bowling at (541) 575-1248 or Nickel at 575-0482. For more about CSEPP, access CSEPP.net. To learn more about the American Red Cross, logon to www.redcross-pdx.org.