March is "National Red Cross Month"

President Obama has declared the month of March as "National Red Cross Month" which represents a particular time to recognize the importance of the Red Cross in Spokane. While we often hear of the Red Cross during fires and natural disasters, we would be thoughtless to forget the year-round contributions of this organization. With little recognition, our local Red Cross volunteers are out in the field helping people, in the midst of disaster, put the pieces back together again.

In my position at the SFD, I can tell you that firefighters and the CARES Team works on a daily basis with the Inland Northwest Chapter of the Red Cross. Whether we are responding to a structure fire, wildland fire, or just about any other kind of disaster imaginable--we know that we can call the Red Cross any time of day or night and have a response from their staff and volunteers. While firefighters are busy dealing with the disaster, Red Cross volunteers are there to calm the victims and meet life's basics - such as food, clothing and a even a temporary place to stay.

The Red Cross also helps with water and meals at the scene of significant incidents such as large building fires and hazardous material incidents, which helps to ensure that firefighters have proper hydration and nourishment while they are working.

If you weren't completely sure how critical the Red Cross is for the SFD, just consider recent incidents here in Spokane. During larger disasters such as the Joel Building Fire, Valley View Fire, Ugly Duck Fire, Cold Storage Warehouse Fire and literally tens of hundreds other incidents within the last 12 months the Red Cross volunteers assisted property owners deal with the consequences of the emergency while providing them important resources like food, shelter and most importantly, hope.

As emergency responders, we appreciate not only the humanitarian work of the Red Cross in sheltering, feeding and counseling disaster victims, but providing other affordable lifesaving training to our community through CPR, First Aid and a myriad of other safety-related courses.

We have always found it admirable that the Red Cross, a nongovernmental organization, is right by our side as we respond to any disaster and I am not sure what we would do without them. During this month - National Red Cross Month - I encourage all of Spokane to take time to learn more about this organization and all that they do for the people of Spokane. You can learn more at http://www.spokaneredcross.org/ or call the Inland NW Chapter at 509.326.3330