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Volunteers give their all to assist victims of disaster
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George Braindard of Austintown talks about the American Red Cross Disaster relief. Supplies for emergency relief sit on the table in front of him
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Wes Washington of Youngstown talks about the American Red Cross Disaster relief
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Steve Ilko of Boardman stands beside a Chevrolet Blazer that serves as an emergency relief vehicle.
Red Cross Mahoning Chapter disaster services teams respond to about 100 fires a year.
BOARDMAN — An American Red Cross Mahoning Chapter Disaster Action Team is usually at the scene of a fire, right behind the fire department, offering shelter, food, clothing and a sympathetic ear to the often stunned and bewildered victims.
Volunteer members of Mahoning Red Cross Disaster Action Teams, or DATs, answered 92 calls to fires in 2008, and provided free assistance, valued at $34,390, to 292 people in the Mahoning Chapter’s service area of Mahoning County and a small portion of Trumbull County.
The Red Cross is perhaps best-known for responding to large disasters, such as those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the South, forest fires in the West, or the tornado that ripped through this area in 1985, said Guido Jannetti Jr., director of operations, said.
But the Red Cross also responds to immediate human needs that result from some 70,000 smaller disasters nationally, most of them single- and multi-family house fires, Jannetti said. On average, the Red Cross Mahoning Chapter responds to about 100 local disasters annually, he said.
The volunteers, who are on the front lines at disasters, large and small, come from a variety of backgrounds.
Four of the Mahoning Chapter’s 300 volunteers described their Red Cross jobs and talked about some of their experiences.
George Brainard of Austintown, a retired (1986) Youngstown policeman, became a Red Cross volunteer just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.
“As a policeman, I saw a lot going on. I wanted to be of use and thought being a Red Cross volunteer might be a worthwhile use of my time. I really enjoy being a volunteer. It makes me feel good to help someone who really needs it. It is more than I ever expected,” he said.
Since joining the Red Cross, Brainard has helped with many disasters, large and small, and other Red Cross assignments. For instance, he is in charge of the Red Cross first-aid stations at the Canfield Fair, and worked in client services helping people from the Katrina and Rita areas who ended up here with family or friends.
Frank Chandler, originally of England and now living in Boardman, retired in 2003 from General Motors Lordstown, where he was a tool and die maker in the fabricating plant.
“My wife said, ‘Volunteer for something,’” so he joined the Red Cross in 2004 and a year later was part of a Red Cross disaster services human resources assisting victims of Hurricane Wilma.
In a situation such as Hurricane Wilma, the National Red Cross assesses the needs and puts out a request to Red Cross volunteers with skills to meet those needs. Volunteers have to be prepared to leave within 24 hours, and the average stay is two or three weeks, he said.
Wes Washington of Youngstown, formerly of New London, Conn., is a 2008 graduate of Ursuline High School and a student/track athlete at Ashland University.
A criminal justice major at Ashland, he went on a couple of Disaster Action Team missions during his summer vacation from school, the first with Chandler as a trainee.
“It was a small fire in a trash can in the basement; but it shocked me how fast things can happen. It was rewarding to see the impact that giving a child toys or a stuffed animal can have,” he said.
Washington said he has always been encouraged at home and at school to help people. He said he plans to hook up with the Red Cross chapter in Ashland to help when he has time away from school, and to return to the Mahoning Chapter in the spring at his next break from school.
Steven Ilko of Boardman, a professional clinical counselor affiliated with Comprehensive Behavioral Health Associates in Austintown, said he has been on nine fire calls in the last 28 days.
“You have to be ready for anything: The victims can be angry, frightened, emotional or sometimes just numb with shock. We just assure them that we’re there to help,” he said.
“Generally, they want to talk about what happened, and how the fire started. It’s good to let them vent and kind of work into what we can do for them,” Ilko said.
He said he also tells them that children and adults may have nightmares or become depressed; and that if the symptoms do not clear up, they may want to contact a mental health professional.
The disaster action team assesses the situation and the victims’ needs and matches those with Red Cross help, which can be temporary shelter, food and clothing and perhaps a client assistant card, which they can use at stores to purchase items, said Ilko, who has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2001.
Ilko said the Red Cross is usually notified about a family in need by a fire department and has a goal to be on the scene within two hours, although, Brainard said, a team usually arrives within an hour.
In addition to shelter, food and clothing, the Red Cross volunteers offer advice on a number of things. For instance, they warn fire victims that they need new prescriptions for any medications that have been near the fire. Exposure to heat and smoke can change their chemical composition, Brainard said.
He said the Mahoning Chapter also prepares for large local disasters. As chapter shelter manager, Brainard has identified 70 places, such as churches, schools and auditoriums, in which to house people displaced by a disaster such as a tornado, flood or chemical spill. He also has made arrangements with area catering firms to provide food.
Getting shelter, food and clothing to displaced people as soon as possible helps stabilize them, he said.
“When a disaster hits, we need to be prepared to be on our own for three days until the national Red Cross can get on the scene,” Ilko said.
alcorn@vindy.com