Volunteers with the local American Red Cross are looking for backup.
Fires, floods and car crashes didn’t take a break during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it did shelve plans for local Red Cross volunteer recruitment events.
Now a handful of volunteers are responding to emergencies across multiple counties, including Clallam and Jefferson, to provide temporary shelter, clothing and more for people facing disasters and tragedies.
“We lost about two-thirds of our crew during the pandemic (for various reasons),” said Jean Pratschner, a Sequim volunteer and disaster action team supervisor.
She, Mary Ann Dangman, another team supervisor, and Clallam office lead Don Zanon said their remaining volunteers haven’t been meeting in person until recently, and have been providing most of their assistance virtually.
Pratschner said they’ve responded to three calls so far in March and have slowly gone back to in-person assistance as needed.
Zanon said there’s a need for assistance at both large and small disasters.
“We need people to respond to those, too,” he said.
Pratschner said oftentimes fire district officials contact them and provide information for those in need, and they’ll assess how the Red Cross can help.
“It’s case-by-case; for example, if it’s a family without shelter, we’ll try to be there as soon as possible,” she said.
Dangman said they’ll also assess the safety of their volunteers, depending on the situation and time of night, too.
Red Cross volunteers were there for flooding in the West End last November to help facilitate temporary shelter for four households, Zanon said.
“When roads opened, we sent out a team to assess damage and distribute emergency supplies,” he said.
Between Clallam Bay and Forks, they provided 18 bundles of buckets, shovels, rakes, gloves, mops and more to households needing to clean out homes. They also helped connect them with local supplies and clothes with other agencies, Zanon said, before FEMA came in to provide more long-term assistance.
Locals have also deployed virtually to other areas to help follow up with other disasters, such as Dangman helping Western Kentucky tornado victims from Dec. 10 connect with rent, food, prescriptions and other needs.
Areas to help
Along with disaster response, volunteers can work in fire prevention, military support, office and equipment logistics coordination, and more.
When there’s a disaster, “all help starts locally,” Zanon said.
“There’s an increase of people to help at the time of an emergency,” he said. “A key thing (for volunteers) is knowing how to help with mass care, the safety protocols, and how to work with trained professional personnel.”
In years just prior to the pandemic, the Red Cross helped install hundreds of smoke alarms across Clallam County while providing basic fire home safety with local fire districts.
They’re looking to restart those efforts in May in the Sequim and Port Angeles areas with only a one-hour training required to help, Dangman said.
Bill Wheeler of Sequim is a volunteer of the Service to the Armed Forces effort that works as a go-between servicemen and women and their families. They can alert family members to situations back home, such as an ailing family member or incoming birth of a baby.
Wheeler said he was able to help connect one serviceman a few years ago to watch the birth of his child via Skype. For families to connect with this service, they can go to redcross.org.
They also help represent the Red Cross at standdowns across Clallam and Jefferson counties, connecting with veterans and servicemen and women with needed resources.
To volunteer
Becoming a Red Cross volunteer starts by going online to redcross.org/volunteer.
“From there, we can direct people to where they want to go,” Dangman said.
Most training starts virtually with field experience to follow, local volunteers said.
A background check is required along with basic computer skills, Pratschner said, but some intake information can be done from the Carlsborg headquarters, at 151 Ruth’s Place, suite 1D.
The Olympic Peninsula Red Cross Chapter is part of the South Puget Sound Red Cross, which includes Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pierce and Thurston counties. The Clallam County chapter formed in 1917.
Clallam County commissioners signed a proclamation on March 1 recognizing the local volunteers and declaring March as American Red Cross month.
