How well can you swim?

Did you know that only HALF of the people who say they know how to swim can perform basic safety skills? 

The American Red Cross created the first national water safety program in the U.S. – and today it’s still the gold standard for aquatics training. All of that training is making a difference. In the last century, we’ve helped to reduce accidental drownings by nearly 90% nationwide.

With summer just around the corner, it’s a great time to take perfect strokes in the right direction to stay safe in the water.

Make water safety a priority, maintain constant supervision, and prevent unsupervised access to the water – especially if you have little ones. You can also download the American Red Cross Swim App for some fun games to teach them water safety and keep your wee swimmer motivated. Now get out there and have a blast the safe way!

A Spring In Your Kit

Now is the time of year when you’ll want to start making the switch from your cold weather kit to your warm weather kit in preparation for those 80-degree days. They have to happen SOMETIME, right? With the sun shining down, heavy emergency blankets may not be as useful (or practical). The same can be said for hand warmers; extra scarves, hats, and gloves; and snow boots. Granted, we just recently had a snow day in the middle of April…but that’s the Ohio we’ve come to know and love, yes? Hopefully, it will prove to be the last snow day of the season, but it definitely reminds us to Be Red Cross Ready for anything!

For the warmer weather, consider adding battery-powered fans, ice packs, sunglasses, a poncho (for our unpredictable, stormy spring seasons), and SPF lotion to your kit. A little creativity goes a long way too. An umbrella becomes doubly useful not only for the sudden downpours, but also as a shield from the heat of the sun. Isn’t that genius?

If you don’t have a disaster kit that you’re switching from, we encourage you to build one now to fit your everyday needs. You can also visit our Red Cross Store to purchase ready made disaster kits. Stay safe and enjoy the weather!

#NVW – Bo Knows Humanitarianism

It’s Friday and the last day of our National Volunteer Week highlight. This time, we’re featuring someone who knows a thing-or-two about helping people: Bo McComas. Bo knows.

“I just really enjoy helping people. … I really like going to schools and talking to kids about disaster preparedness. Veterans need things that they’re not getting. The Red Cross is doing their part to help. I wanted to be a part of that.”

We’re honored to have Bo as a compassionate disaster volunteer. He understands the importance  of disaster response as well as spreading awareness and being prepared before they happen. He’s also part of our regional Speaker’s Bureau and enjoys giving presentations to local schools and daycare programs on disaster preparedness.

In addition to all this, Bo follows our commitment to America’s military members, veterans, and families as a caseworker for Services to Armed Forces (SAF). He follows-up with families after we have assisted them with emergency communications to make sure they have everything they need and find out how we can further help them.

You can join Bo and our other volunteers as part of our SAF volunteer team. It’s a very personal and rewarding position, plus, you get to work with one of our best staff members! For more information, contact Karen Jantzi at 419.227.5121 ext. 8 or email her. 

#NVW – National Volunteer Week

Our volunteers are a critical part of helping people when they need it the most. House fire in the middle of the night? Volunteer. Local flooding? Volunteer. They make up 90-percent of our workforce and move mountains to ensure the safety and well-being of others. We’re fortunate enough to have more than 1,000 of them in our region and can’t express our gratitude enough…

This week, we’d like you to join us as we celebrate these incredible people during National Volunteer Week! Every day, we’ll highlight a volunteer and extend our thanks for their ongoing hard work.

First up is Paul Bumpus. Paul has been a Red Cross Volunteer for 47 years. We double-checked to make sure that wasn’t a typo: it wasn’t. Paul must really like to save lives (and we appreciate that!) because he teaches our First Aid and CPR courses.

“I believe in helping people in time of need,” he says. “As a Red Cross Volunteer Instructor, I can train others to help even more people in times of emergency.”

Thanks so much, Paul! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Stay tuned tomorrow to learn more about our hardworking volunteers who we love so much.

Be Ready for April Showers

Our Red Cross store is full of items that may fit many of your needs. The weather is starting to get a little bit warmer now that Spring is here. Why not wear an American Red Cross t-shirt to stay cool and show your support in style? The opening for the Toledo Mud Hens is approaching which means lots of great days at Fifth Third Field! Stay safe from the sun with an American Red Cross cap. Good luck catching one of those fly balls!

Every day isn’t guaranteed to be great weather for baseball, sadly. Spring also brings the promise of stormy, rainy, flashy floody, weather – especially for our region. Don’t get caught with your favorite shoes completely soaked or your sandals stuck in the mud. Pick up a pair of our American Red Cross wellies to make your water hazard travels much easier. Or rain boots. Or galoshes. Or whatever you call them. 🙂

The store is also a great destination to stay Red Cross Ready and stock up on supplies. We have emergency radios that can keep your phone charged, first aid kits you can keep in the car, survival kits you can take with you while camping, and more. There’s also First Aid/CPR/AED items to replenish your materials or brush up on your training.

Make sure you have all the necessary components to respond to disasters and emergencies to aid you, your family, and your loved ones.

 

Anatomy of a Disaster Kit

Being Red Cross Ready means having a checklist in place for responding to disasters. We suggest that you get a kit, make a plan, and be informed. Disasters strike so suddenly that it leaves little time to gather the necessities needed in case of an emergency – this is where the disaster kit comes in handy. It contains a 3-day supply of food and materials to ensure you and your loved ones are prepared for a disaster. You can build your own or purchase the regular or deluxe versions we have available at our American Red Cross store.

If you’re choosing to build your own, here are the items we suggest you include in your kit:

• 1 gallon of water, per person, per day; 3-day supply of non-perishable food, per person
• Flashlight, extra batteries; cell phones with chargers
• Medical Items; copies of personal documents; emergency blankets
• Maps of the area; battery-powered or hand-crank radio
• Family and emergency contact information

Remember to check your disaster kit every six months to replace expired items and also to keep your furry friends in mind with their own disaster kit. Visit our Be Red Cross Ready website for all the details and download our mobile apps for information on how to respond to disasters.

Tornado Myths and Facts

Winter is almost in the rear-view mirror and that means we can finally say goodbye to all of the snow and subzero temperatures. That’s the good news! Spring’s arrival does bring us a new weather event to be prepared for, though: tornado season. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground.  They are dangerous and require preparation. Increase your awareness for yourself, family, and friends by knowing the truth behind these four tornado myths:

Myth: Opening windows in a home or building during a tornado will help equalize pressure. Fact: Opening windows will have no effect. Stay away from windows and exterior walls. Take shelter in the basement, storm cellar or an interior room without windows on the lowest floor.

Myth: If you are caught driving during a tornado, you should always get out of your car and get in a ditch.
Fact: Try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. If there is flying debris, pull over and park. Stay in the car with the seat belt on and the engine running. Put your head below the windows, covering your head with your hands and a blanket.

Myth: Cities are protected from tornadoes because of the tall buildings.
Fact: Tall buildings do not protect from tornadoes. Cities cover a small geographical area so the chances of being directly hit are small. However, tornadoes can strike anywhere.

Myth: Taking shelter in the southwest corner of your home will protect you.
Fact: This is based on an outdated theory that all tornadoes come from the northeast. Tornadoes can move from any direction and no one corner of your home is always safe.

Get access to alerts, information on what to do, and more tornado safety tips by downloading our Red Cross Tornado app for your mobile device!

We Need You

We’ve been talking about every day heroes during Red Cross Month. What do they do? Our heroes are volunteers, donors, and community members like you. They respond to fires, work in shelters, administer CPR, and apply First Aid techniques. They literally save lives, but they can’t do it alone. Become a hero and join our team of American Red Cross Volunteer Instructors for First Aid and CPR.

As a member of our Health and Safety Volunteer Instructors, you’ll teach high-quality, trusted first aid and CPR programs to put others in a position to be heroes and save lives. The programs will support you in a variety of ways by: providing extensive lessons plans, video support, a dedicated resource website; free digital or affordable print course materials; free digital refreshers; 2-year certification; hands-on skills practices, and more. Not only will your knowledge help people who are in need, but your teachings will ensure others are in a position to be heroes too. Just think: if you trained 30 people, and each one saved one person in their life time, you just helped save 30 people. We need you.

To take part in a Volunteer Instructor program, please take the following steps:
1) Visit www.redcross.org/support/volunteer.
2) Click on “volunteer in your community”, enter your Zip Code, and select “Preparedness and Health & Safety” as your interest.
3) Click “Apply now” to begin the intake process.

Be a hero and help build a network of First Aid and CPR-trained people.

Digital Waders

“Sweet April showers do spring May flowers.” – Thomas Tusser, 1557

This is the time of the year where the snow starts to melt, the rainy days of April are just around the corner, and umbrellas come out of hibernation. The increase in water can cause concern and create ideal conditions for floods or flash floods. Did you know floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States? We want you and your loved ones to be prepared and safe. That’s why we’re happy to introduce the American Red Cross Flood App.

The app provides flood watch and flood warning alerts right to your phone. No cell phone or wireless signal? There’s a bunch of preloaded content on what to do before, during, and after a flood. You can find open Red Cross shelters based on your location, take tests, and there’s even a button you can press that will automatically let family and friends know you’re safe.

There’s so much to read and do that it’s probably just easier if you experience it yourself! Apple and Android users can download the American Red Cross Flood App free of charge. Stay safe and prepared with all of our mobile apps.

Snow Laughing Matter

Gee thanks, Punxsutawney Phil. Looks like we’re all due for 6 more weeks of winter!

 

It starts tonight with the possibility of another snowstorm. We want you to be safe and ready to respond when (if?) it hits.

Check out this handy Winter Storm Safety Checklist to prepare or learn more on our website.

Also, don’t forget to take your pets into consideration as well. Kill some time while you wait for #snowmageddon2014 by downloading our new Red Cross Pet First Aid app, (or this one for humans). After all, we may not be going anywhere for a while.

Finally, we’ll leave you with this: