Never forget

Chances are, you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing 11 years ago today. Personally, I was working evenings at the time, so I was still in bed when my wife called, asking me to tape CNN because someone had just crashed a plane into the World Trade Center. Still groggy, I walked in and turned on the TV, but nothing I was seeing made any sense, so I had to call my wife back and ask what just happened. The rest of September 11, 2001 and the days and weeks that followed were largely spent asking that same question, as the world came to grips with the enormity of the terrorist attacks.

Here at the Red Cross, Executive Director Nancy Blaschak recalls watching the Towers fall with fellow staff members in the Board room of the Clement Mansion. Along with the shock that everyone felt that morning, they knew that the Red Cross would soon be called into action. With air travel shut down across the nation, dozens of local volunteers soon loaded into cars and drove the six or so hours toward Ground Zero, where they were among the first Red Cross volunteers to arrive. The relief efforts would last for weeks, as seen in this slideshow from the American Red Cross in Greater New York.

Locally, we continue to support and work with the Western New York Families of September 11th, who held their annual memorial vigil here Sunday night. The candlelight service remembered all those who lost their lives that tragic day, including the 26 victims with connections to Western New York. Family member Leigh Macadlo, who lost her brother Leonard Castrianno on 9/11, discussed the meaning of this day with Mary Friona of Channel 2 from the front lawn of the Clement Mansion this morning, where their flag tribute remains on display. 

The American Red Cross encourages everyone to take time out on this day of remembrance, and to never forget September 11, 2001.

Front-yard flags remember loved ones lost

If you're driving or walking down Delaware Avenue in Buffalo this week, you'll notice something a little different in the front yard of the Clement Mansion.

Thousands of American flags planted in the lawn does make for a beautiful and attention-getting sight on their own, but if you stop to take a closer look, you'll realizing how powerful this display really is.

Each of the flags has a tag attached with a name and some brief biographical information. This is the Western New York Families of September 11th's annual flag tribute to remember the lives lost on that terrible day eleven years ago. By the end of the week, this amazing group of people, each of whom lost a loved one in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011, will have planted a flag representing each of the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day. There will be a special section to remember those who had connections to Western New York.

This Sunday at 8pm, the group will hold a candlelight vigil here at the Red Cross in remembrance of those lost on 9/11. I had the honor of working with these wonderful families last year, and attended the vigil for the first time. It truly is a moving experience, and helps drive home the impact 9/11 still has on our lives more than a decade later.

If you can't make the vigil, the flags will be up at least through next week, and I strongly encourage you to stop and walk around the display. You'll truly be moved by the efforts of the 9/11 Families to make sure we never forget the lives lost on that tragic day, and the Red Cross is honored to be a small part of this memorial.

A first aid "fire drill"

Think back to your school days. How many times did those fire alarms go off, leading the teachers to line hundreds of students up to exit the building in a safe and orderly fashion? Chances are, we've all been a part of dozens of fire drills (as I recall, they always took place on typically frozen WNY winter days, not in gorgeous conditions like today...), designed to make sure everyone in the building knows what to do should an actual emergency take place. Well this morning, I found myself taking part in a "first aid fire drill!!"

I was too busy taking part to get a picture of the actual
first aid"fire drill." But these are some of the
reviewers who critiqued our work.

I received a call asking me to quickly make my way downstairs. I ran down to the reception desk, where I was told to head in to the Board Room. I was already a bit confused before I opened the door to see about 20 people. I was greeted by someone telling me this was a Red Cross drill, then I saw a "victim" lying on the floor, "bleeding" from her forehead. I immediately flashed to my first aid training. My colleague Jose was first on the scene, so I asked him what happened. He told me she was bleeding and unconscious but breathing. I asked if I should call 911 while he attended to her wound, and he agreed. When I returned from "calling" 911, another of our colleagues, Susan, was also on the scene. Then, the scenario changed. We were told that our "victim" had now stopped breathing. Jose quickly began CPR. I asked if we had an AED on-scene, which we did. Susan and I set about putting it together, then Susan hooked it up to our "victim" (by this time, a mannequin had replaced our role-playing instructor) and followed the prompts to use it properly. At this point, I took a step back to lead the EMT's to the scene while Jose and Susan continued their resuscitation efforts. We were then told that the EMT's had "arrived" and our drill was over.

A few minutes later, the three of us were summoned back into the room for a review. We were told that we communicated well together, complimented for our willingness to help, and told that we used our training well and our "victim" survived. 

After calming down a bit, this made me remember why we did all those fire drills in school. It's great to be told what to do in case of emergency, but it's another thing entirely to put it into practice using a realistic scenario. We've all taken CPR/First Aid training, but most of us have never had to use it, and those skills can get rusty without a little bit of practice.

That's why the Red Cross in this region is starting to offer these follow-up assessment "fire drills" as part of our corporate first aid training. If you'd like to schedule a life-saving training at your business (and then face the "test" afterwards!!), email or call Jill Gregory at (716) 878-2382. Or, for a full list of Health & Safety courses, please visit www.redcross.org/take-a-class. And remember, practice makes perfect!!

Coffee & Doughnuts!

Got your attention now, haven't I? I know I can't start my day without a cup (okay, usually two cups) of joe, and my waistline can attest to the fact I've enjoyed a few doughnuts in my day as well. But these morning favorites have led to a misunderstanding that has lasted for 70 years!

During World War II, the Red Cross continued its long-standing tradition of Services to Armed Forces, supplying plasma that saved tens of thousands of lives on the battlefield; shipping 28 million packages of food and comfort items to 1.3 million allied prisoners of war; handling 40 million messages between soldiers and their families; and making 2.5 million loans to help with emergencies. Still, many WWII veterans and other community members have one question: "Why did the American Red Cross charge soldiers for coffee and doughnuts during World War II??"

Photo courtesy
www.7thfighter.com

It's a perfectly reasonable question. After all, our Services to the Armed Forces have always been (and continue to be) free. And there's a perfectly reasonable answer: The American Red Cross did sell coffee and  doughnuts to military personnel during World War II for the only time in its history, at the request of U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson (you can see his letter to the Red Cross below). The request was made as a matter of morale: service agencies in Britain could not afford to give away similar items, so it was deemed to be "impractical and undesirable" for American soldiers to receive these services for free while their British allies had to pay. The American Red Cross complied with the request and sold these items at or below cost, did not profit from the sales and has never again charged military personnel for refreshments.

As the late Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story."