A second chance at life inspires a full circle moment for Red Cross CPR instructor

This past March, American Red Cross of Western New York intern Sado Isak found herself before an auditorium full of local students.

“I think what we as individuals fear the most ends up being what we’re the most good at.”

A Brockport public health graduate with a fear of public speaking, the 24-year-old intern was leading one of the several Hands-Only CPR courses she would teach that week, each with a mindset that Isak is proud to share with those she encounters.

“Thank God for the good and the bad, because those situations are bound to teach you something. They either make you or break you.”

In her nearly two and a half decades, Isak has learned quite a bit. A native of Uganda, Isak moved to the Rochester area with her family as a 7-year-old after living in a refugee camp and fondly recalled her first interaction with snow.

“I thought it was left over from a party or something, I couldn’t understand why it was all over the place. It was cold!”

But fast forward to March 2020 and Isak will tell you it was her life-threatening experience with COVID-19 at the onset of a global pandemic that helped to fortify her way of thinking.

As she worked to complete her final semester at Monroe Community College, Isak struggled for weeks with an illness whose progression was still relatively unknown to healthcare professionals and the world. After four weeks of battling what she thought was a terrible cold at home surrounded by family, she said her body simply gave out.

“I have never experienced that much pain, that much sickness.”

Paramedics were called to her home and provided lifesaving compressions, resuscitating Isak before taking her to a local hospital for treatment where she quickly recovered.

“I feel like that left a huge mark on me,” Isak explained. “It was very scary. I’ve never experienced anything like that, and I never thought I would be getting CPR done to me. I see this as a great sign that I was destined to do something. I was destined to do something better.”

Since then, Isak has taken full advantage of her second chance – turning it into a full circle moment

pursuing a degree in Public Health and starting an internship with the American Red Cross, not long after another second chance moment seen around the world shone a spotlight on the importance of CPR and preparedness training.

“I’ve been doing a lot of youth leadership programs like Prepare with Pedro, and a lot of Hands-Only CPR trainings,” she explained. “I didn’t really think of the trauma of what I went through, I just thought we need to teach people how to properly treat someone who needs it.”

Since January, the American Red Cross has experienced a notable increase in inquiries about CPR and AED training, and in course enrollments – as well as how to obtain an AED. And while the industry continues to see a growing interest in preparedness training such as CPR/AED training, Isak who graduated from Brockport last month, hopes her experience inspires others to follow suit.

“I’m a huge believer in that everything happens for a reason,” she explained. “If it were you, wouldn’t you want someone to do the same for you?”

Rochester Red Crosser's volunteer career spans 50 years, multiple continents

Born in Madrid, Spain, Maria Polo and her family moved to Colombia when she was around 9. She considers herself to be of Colombian culture and, before moving to America and becoming an American citizen, she called Colombia her home country.  Her father founded the Universidad Autonoma de Colombia in the Capital city of Bogota.  The university is still there and growing today.  This is where Maria started her service with the Red Cross that just recently reached the 50-year mark.  

As a young woman in her twenties, and a member of an educated upper-class family, she saw poverty and mistreatment around her and vowed to help wherever she could.  Raised in a family that believed the secret to one’s own inner peace was found by helping others and never asking for anything in return, Maria truly grasped this belief at a very young age.  She and her young daughter started volunteering at a nursing home in Bogota, Colombia.  Upon realizing the poor conditions and lack of resources at the facility, she was compelled to volunteer every Sunday to help the residents by providing music therapy, massage therapy and helping in any way she could.  She continued this volunteer effort for the Red Cross in her native country for five years, thus beginning her many years of service with the Red Cross that has spanned multiple continents. 

Maria moved on to serve for the International Red Cross and ended up serving on missions in 57 countries around the world.   The list includes, Ecuador, The Amazon rain forest, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea, Jeju Island, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, India, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, most countries in Europe and so many more!   Tsunamis, floods, civil unrest, medical missions and earthquakes are just a few of the types of deployments Ms. Polo has done over the years.  Whether its riding a motor bike an unknown amount of miles into the country to obtain rice to help feed a village of starving people, diving in dangerously swift water to help drowning victims, traveling two weeks on foot into the Amazon forest on a medical mission or getting a crash courses in suturing up patients during volunteer surgical missions in Central & South America’s, it’s clear that Maria has had quite an interesting and lively international volunteer career experience.  

She talks about how the missions aren’t easy and how when on them you don’t get special treatment - nor did she expect it,

“You just never know what to expect during these deployments, we just show up and help with

whatever is available at the time.  If they do not eat, we do not eat, if they sleep on the ground, we sleep on the ground.”  Her belief in helping others is so strong she hates to use the word sacrifice to describe giving up her time and vacations over the years to go on these missions. 

“If I say it’s a sacrifice then it means I do it to get something in return, and that’s not it, not the reason, it comes from inside, we need more people to get that!”

In between all the excitement of her international missions she has also volunteered in her own backyard over the years.   Not only has she been a volunteer for local crisis situations such as fires in the greater Rochester area, and other local Red Cross work, but she also volunteered for the Hispanic and Black Youth Leadership Programs in the Rochester area for almost 27 years.  She started volunteering for these organizations in 1994 working with the program director. The program had a mentoring element and covered topics such as diversity, equity & inclusion, financial literacy, conflict management, time management, resume building, leadership skills & development. To this day she has stories of people coming up to her and remembering her by name, thanking her for the guidance and knowledge they learned in these youth programs. She finds these to be very rewarding experiences, knowing that she played a small part in helping these individuals grow and develop into successful members of the very same community.

“Educating the people is what we need to do to make it better, knowledge isn’t always learned in the school.” This is one of the most important secrets to a better future, according to Polo.   

During this wild ride of a life she moved to Toronto, NYC, Boca Raton, North Carolina and finally settled in Rochester.   Maria had previously obtained her bachelor’s degree in computer science and spent several years working in the accounting field for the Caja Agraria Bank in Bogota, Colombia.  After moving to Rochester, she went to SUNY Brockport and earned her Bachelor’s in education and was an assistant Spanish teacher in the Rochester area. Maria has also obtained her certification in medical massage therapy.  She has overcome some major tragedies in her life in recent years as well, which just goes to prove how strong this woman truly is.  In 2017 she was in a terrible car accident and was struck by an on-coming car.  Suffering from a traumatic brain injury, among many other injuries, she was in a coma for over a month, and upon waking was unable to talk or walk.  She was told that her chances of walking and talking again were almost non-existent.  But shockingly enough, with the help of her family, and some friends made through her missions, she has beat those odds!  Not long after, in December 2021, tragedy struck again.  She had a house fire and lost everything.  Coming home from work early one day, she found her home filled with smoke.  Knowing her dogs were inside, Maria selflessly entered the home to save the animals, getting all three out to safety.  Unfortunately, most of her prized possessions from her many trips were lost in the fire.  Pictures, logs, keepsakes, etc. were gone.  This has made it difficult for her to keep track of her experiences and her past missions.  Fortunately, her son and daughter help her keep her memories alive.  She has told her children about her missions over the years “so many times that they roll their eyes when I start to talk about them!”. 

Today Maria can be found spending her time at one of the Rochester area blood donor centers volunteering as a Donor Ambassador.  She is also going back to school at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Osher Lifelong Learning Center to continue her education.  She is currently studying Medical Ethics, Topics in Modern Cognitive Science, Climate Change & Global Warming, and also has an interest in natural and alternative medicine, preventive medicine and mysteries of the mind.  You can usually find her at different parks in the area with her dogs enjoying the outdoors, and at the YMCA most mornings taking part in various exercise classes, and staying healthy and in shape, (she used to run marathons!)  

Over the years, Maria has had so many wonderful learning experiences and met so many people, the extreme gratitude for the life of service that she has lived is clearly evident when she recalls her Red Cross work.  The hundreds, if not thousands, of people with whom she has interacted are grateful for the energy, knowledge and compassion she has shared as well.

Jodi Zielinski, Communications Volunteer, American Red Cross of Western New York

Springing ahead? Don't forget to "Turn and Test"

Daylight saving time begins this Sunday, March 12, and the American Red Cross of Western New York encourages everyone to TURN your clocks forward one hour, and TEST your smoke alarms.

Did you know that having working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half? Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster with Red Cross volunteers responding to an emergency every 8 minutes, on average. In the month of February alone, Red Cross of WNY Disaster Action Team (DAT) members provided immediate emergency assistance in the aftermath of home fires to 269 individuals across our region.

That’s why it’s critical to “Turn and Test” this weekend and take these lifesaving steps to keep your loved ones safe in the event of a home fire. 

·         Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. Test alarms monthly and replace the batteries at least once a year if your model requires it.

·         Replace smoke alarms that are 10 years or older. That’s because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time. Check the date of your smoke alarms and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

·         Practice your two-minute escape plan. Make sure everyone in your household can get out in less than two minutes — the amount of time you may have to get out of a burning home before it’s too late. Include at least two ways to get out from every room and select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows where to meet.

·         Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including an escape plan to practice with your family. You can also download our free Emergency app by searching for “American Red Cross” in app stores. 

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN SAVING LIVES The Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters every year and most of them are home fires. To help prevent fire-related deaths and injuries, the Red Cross launched the Home Fire Campaign with community partners in 2014 to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries.

Recently, with support from thousands of community partners, the campaign met its goal of installing 2.5 million free smoke alarms and making 1 million households safer across the country. So far, the Home Fire Campaign is credited with saving more than 1,583 lives in the U.S. Because home fires remain a daily threat and the campaign has made a lifesaving difference, the Red Cross will be continuing the program with community partners as part of its standard services across the country.

 

Volunteers Ensure Blood Supplies Keep Flowing Despite Historic Storm

(Above, from left to right: Volunteer Transportation Specialists Dean Stanley, Vic Pascell and Tony Addotta arrive for their shifts in Buffalo at the conclusion of the storm.)

In late December, the greater Buffalo region was devastated by a blizzard of historic proportion.  Freezing temperatures, large accumulations of snow, and gale-force winds made for dangerous and unpassable roads, essentially bringing travel to a stop, even for first responders. After earlier warnings that week of a “once in a generation” storm about to hit the area, it arrived on Friday, December 23, as the region prepared for a holiday weekend. By early afternoon, high winds and heavy snowfall created near white-out conditions.

 While travel may have stopped, the need for blood to treat trauma victims and other patients at area hospitals did not and, as an organization that provides blood to every hospital in our region, the Red Cross is an important cog in the cycle of blood collection and distribution. So, when weather forecasts started to paint a picture of the intensity of the oncoming storm and the challenges the region would face, several Red Cross volunteer transportation specialists took it upon themselves to find ways to ensure that the flow of life-saving blood products would continue to reach those in need.

 As an organization that prides itself on emergency preparedness, the Red Cross was fortunate to have dedicated volunteer transportation specialists like Tony Addotta, Marc Smith, Benjamin “Frank” Murphy, Victor Pascell, John Gnann, Rich VanDerMeid, David Andolora and Dean Stanley on hand to plan and manage alternate methods of making on time deliveries to the hospitals they served.

 Anthony (Tony) Addotta, a Buffalo-based volunteer driver, exemplified the mission-driven focus of the American Red Cross. As the blizzard was getting ready to hit Erie County, Tony stated he still wanted to deliver to hospitals, which would surely need blood ahead of the storm. He arrived at the Union Road Blood Donation Center in Cheektowaga early on December 23 to make the drive to Rochester to pick up and transport processed blood products to Buffalo as early as possible. Tony worked in collaboration with other drivers to split up the hospital deliveries that day, with each focusing on a specific section of Erie County to save time and get safely back home before the storm became too severe. Tony’s list included many of the hospitals in the City of Buffalo.

After the storm, when travel bans remained in place and many roads were impassable, Tony came in on December 28 and 29 and helped create routes for multiple volunteer drivers so that blood could be delivered safely via alternate, creative routes/roads that were deemed safe. He delivered to hospitals in contained sections in the City of Buffalo on those days and made an immense difference delivering life-saving blood products to hospitals during a stressful time, always with a smile for our customers!

 Marc Smith, in his third year of serving as a Red Cross volunteer, was also instrumental in getting blood to hospitals before the storm hit. Marc came in on December 23 as the snow and wind were starting to intensify. To get drivers off the road as early as possible, one route up was split up among three different drivers.  Marc took his own vehicle to deliver blood to Bertrand Chaffee hospital in Springville. His timely and creative action likely prevented the originally scheduled driver from being stranded in the blinding snowstorm that quickly settled in over Erie County. He was also instrumental in getting blood to a rural hospital that ended up being blocked off by snow drifts, stranded vehicles, and road closures for several days.

 Benjamin “Frank” Murphy is another Buffalo-area volunteer who was instrumental in helping to deliver blood ahead of the storm’s catastrophic impact. Frank came in early ahead of the storm to collaborate with other volunteers and help split up the normal hospital delivery route. The team’s goal that morning was to get drivers off the road as early as possible in light of the oncoming, severe storm, while still ensuring hospitals received the life-saving blood product that they needed. Frank used his own vehicle to bring blood to a hospital that was not on the usual delivery list, but which needed blood products that morning. The hospital was located some distance from the rest of the facilities on the list and, in the previously scheduled route, would have taken the normal driver too long to safely get to ahead of the storm.

 As the storm finally receded by December 28, Vic Pascell was the first Buffalo volunteer back on the road to transport blood. At this point, numerous roads near hospitals and the roads that were normally used for transport were still closed. Vic left early on the first day the New York State Thruway reopened to drive to Rochester, where all blood donations are processed, and pick up blood to bring back to Cheektowaga. He communicated the exact hospital orders and box numbers to facilitate collaboration with other volunteers. Due to remaining road closures and travel restrictions, hospital deliveries were again split between three drivers. Vic traveled in areas in Northern Buffalo and nearby suburbs to deliver blood to hospitals, navigating through streets in which plows were still struggling to clean-up snow and abandoned vehicles.

 Buffalo volunteer Dean Stanley was eager to come in and help transport blood as soon as access was available to the Union Road Blood Donation Center. When word came that the Blood Donation Center could open on Wednesday, December 28, nearly a week after the storm hit, communication went out to the transportation team asking for volunteers to come in and help transport blood. The e-mail went out just before 5:00 a.m and Dean was at the Union Road location in Cheektowaga by 8:30.  After arriving, he helped divide the usual route so that volunteers could focus on small areas of Erie County that were accessible while numerous roads still had to be plowed and cleared of abandoned vehicles. Dean’s route included going to Bertrand Chaffee in Springville, which for several days could not get blood while all major roads into the area were closed.

Just one day later, December 29, John Gnann reported for his usual Thursday morning hospital deliveries. Despite the fact that there remained many unknowns in terms of road conditions and closures, John was determined to make sure hospitals received the necessary blood products. John worked with his colleagues to split normal hospital route deliveries between two volunteers. After driving from Buffalo to West Henrietta to pick-up blood, he sent a message with the official number of boxes for each hospital so that final plans could be made for delivery.

 While Rochester was spared the brunt of Winter Storm Elliott, Rochester-based drivers pitched in to help their colleagues in Buffalo.  While Erie County remained completely closed off, Rich VanDerMeid, a Red Cross volunteer of 13 years, was instrumental in getting blood to Buffalo hospitals. On Christmas Day, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) notified the Red Cross that traveling to Buffalo-area hospitals remained unsafe. To compensate for those limitations, the transportation team planned to have an ECSO Deputy meet up with a Rochester driver in Batavia. That evening, Transportation Supervisor Rachel Elzufon Couch texted Rich and, despite it being Christmas, Rich called within minutes and the two discussed a new plan to help Buffalo get blood. During his usual West Henrietta – West run, he volunteered to take blood for Buffalo hospitals to give to the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, meeting up at United Memorial Medical Center, in Batavia. Rich did this without being able to use his typical route to Batavia, as the Thruway was still closed from Rochester to the Pennsylvania line.

While Erie County remained completely closed off, David Andolora, of Rochester, was instrumental in getting blood to Buffalo hospitals. While a travel ban remained in place in Erie County, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office told us that those hospitals remained difficult to access due to numerous streets still unplowed and filled with abandoned vehicles. David came in an extra day to make sure that Buffalo hospitals received blood, using alternate routes because of the Thruway closure to bring product destined for multiple Buffalo hospitals to Batavia, where he handed it off to a sheriff’s deputy from Erie County. That deputy then delivered blood to hospitals in Buffalo. David communicated effectively about which hospitals he had so that the sheriff’s deputy fully understood which hospitals he needed to deliver to.

 To a person, each of the volunteer drivers expressed a sense of duty to make sure blood was available to hospitals and the patients that depended on it, deflecting any praise of their efforts.

 “I received a call from Rachel asking if I was available and willing to help with the morning hospital deliveries,” Smith said. “I knew it was going to be difficult driving with the storm coming in, but I was confident I could be of help. The importance of making sure hospitals have the blood supply they need is motivation…especially during adverse weather conditions.”

Vic Pascell concurred, saying, “I felt it was a small part that I could contribute. I know the blood deliveries were important during that time and I had the time and resources to help.”

 For John Gnann, the potential consequences if there was a disruption to the blood supply were unacceptable.  “I was the one who was needed to make sure the blood was delivered,” he said, referring to the hospitals to which he delivered. “It was my job and people in my city were depending on me. This was literally a life and death situation due to the serious disruption to the supply chain in Buffalo because of the storm.”

 Gnann was also quick to credit Transportation Supervisor Rachel Elzufon Couch for her dedication and strong leadership in organizing delivery efforts during trying times. “She (Rachel) was the quarterback, we were the running backs.”

 Rich VenDerMeid also cited Elzufon Couch’s leadership.  “I knew that Rachel might have difficulty finding someone else,” he said, noting that his family holiday plans were scheduled for another day, allowing him to step forward.   

A variety of closely linked themes were also expressed in describing some of the challenges the historic storm and related conditions presented.

 While Smith joked that driving his own 4X4 pickup truck did not help much with visibility, he said that it was helpful in getting through drifts and snow that was quickly accumulating on roads. “The biggest challenge…the complete white outs, snow drifts across the roads and through intersections, and navigating a route to avoid the high elevations of the 219 expressway,” he recalled.” I volunteered to do the delivery to Springville because having lived in the Southtowns snowbelt my whole life, I felt comfortable enough that I could complete the delivery.”

 For Pascell, Buffalo’s storm response presented some obstacles. “The biggest challenge was finding ways around some of the large pieces of snow removal equipment still operating to clear some of the higher traveled streets in the city,” he said.

 Gnann highlighted yet another issue. “The biggest challenge I faced was making sure that the roads I normally take to get to the hospitals were open. I had to make a couple of detours, but it all worked out.”

 It was Smith who captured the can-do attitude of Red Cross volunteers, in this particular emergency, and in the various disasters to which they respond in the Western New York Region:

“I didn’t feel like it was above and beyond, said Smith. “If they need me, I’ll do what I can to help.”