Making that "Night Out" a little safer for everyone

On Tuesday, various communities across Western New York and the nation joined together for the 29th Annual National Night Out, designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness and strengthen neighborhood spirit. What better way to increase that spirit than to make sure community residents know what to do in case of an emergency??

Louise Porter discussing important safety tips during
West Seneca's "National Night Out" event at Southgate Plaza

The American Red Cross was proud to take part in two area National Night Out events Tuesday--at the Lincoln Arena in Tonawanda and the Southgate Plaza in West Seneca. In Tonawanda, Regional Preparedness Coordinator Denise Herkey-Jarosch and volunteer Bonnie Klein provided attendees with materials designed to help them prepare for various emergencies, and Denise even demonstrated hands-only CPR! Prepared and Ready coordinator Louise Porter joined with intern Nicole Roma to let the community in West Seneca know what the Red Cross can do for them.

At Lincoln Arena in Tonawanda, Bonnie Klein teaches a
youngster about the importance of emergency preparedness

In all, well over 450 preparedness materials were distributed on the night, covering topics ranger from water safety to how to perform hands-only CPR. The Red Cross thanks the agencies responsible for National Night Out for inviting us to be a part of the evening, and hope that we have done our part to make these communities a little safer for everyone.

If you'd like to schedule a FREE emergency preparedness education program at your school, business or other organization, just contact Denise at denise.herkey-jarosch@redcross.org or (716) 878-2231.

Dealing with Disaster

It seems that every story on the news lately has been about one of two things: The 2012 London Olympics, or tragedy. Just today comes the news that the suspect in the Wisconsin Sikh Temple shooting died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. That disaster came on the heels of the Colorado Theater shooting. Closer to home, the Niagara County community of Wilson continues to recover from a fatal house explosion last month that left the surviving family members homeless and grieving.

Here at the Red Cross, we are blessed to have a team of trained, talented and experienced Disaster Mental Health volunteers on call to help our disaster clients deal with their emotion response to a traumatic situation. However, as we saw with the Wilson tragedy, the surrounding community can be deeply affected by the situation as well. Friends and classmates of the teenage girl that passed away and her siblings, extended family members, friends and acquaintances, even emergency personnel that responded to the scene were all touched by this situation. People who didn't even know the family may find themselves disturbed or depressed by the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.

While our Disaster Mental Health services focus on the victims themselves, it's important for the rest of the community to know that it's normal to feel anxious, stressed or depressed following a disaster, and that it's okay to seek help. One great resource for community members touched by tragedy is the Disaster Distress Hotline. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide emotional support and local referral information for those experience distress following a disaster. Just call 1-800-985-5990 or text TALKWITHUS to 66746 to reach their regional call center.

Opening Our NEW Doors in Niagara County

Our new Niagara County Home at
1522 Main Street in Niagara Falls

The American Red Cross has been a part of the Niagara County community for more than 90 years, so saying we "opened our doors" in that community would be a little misleading. The truth is, they never closed, they just moved a little. So we were happy to invite all of our supporters to visit our new office inside the Niagara Family Center on Main Street in Niagara Falls at an open house last night!

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a little background: The American Red Cross in Erie & Niagara Counties officially merged operations back on July 1, 2011. When that happened, it was determined to no longer be feasible to maintain two large office spaces in Niagara County in addition to our administrative headquarters here in Buffalo. So the previous offices on Davison Road in Lockport and Sawyer Drive in Wheatfield are being sold (if you're looking for a large office space in Niagara County, do we have a deal for you!!), and we recently consolidated our staff to one location in Niagara Falls.

The biggest advantage to this new office is it's location. By being located in the population center in Niagara Falls, we are closer to the majority of our clients, many of whom are able to walk to the new location for services. Of course, if someone on the other side of the county needs services, we'll make sure we can accommodate them as well. Once clients do arrive, our new office allows us to offer them additional services. The Red Cross is just one of six community service organizations sharing space inside Family & Children's Service of Niagara's newly renovated building at 1522 Main Street. So it is easy for us to, say, refer a client to Ways to Work Niagara for employment assistance, or for the Girl Scouts to come across the hall and sign up for one of our First Aid classes.

Inside our new Niagara County office

If you're saying to yourself, "I didn't know anything changed," that's the idea. We're still providing the same disaster preparedness and response, Health & Safety Trainings, Blood Services and assistance to members of the military and their families that we always have in Niagara County, but hopefully we're doing so a little better and a lot more efficiently than before. Last night, we welcomed supporters to see where these services are now originating from, and answer any questions they may have. It was a wonderful gathering of some of the great people who make it possible for the Red Cross to provide our services to the community. We even almost had a chance to test our first aid skills, although it appears everyone involved in the bike "incident" escaped unscathed.

The open house may be over, but you can trust that our doors will always be open to help turn heartbreak into hope for our neighbors in need in Niagara County! The new doors are located at 1522 Main Street, Niagara Falls, NY 14305 or you call (716) 299-0900.

Anyone can help save a life!

Earlier today, www.redcross.org posted a story about a manager who used his CPR training to save a co worker's life. It's a great story that shows the importance of learning these lifesaving skills. So I found the email I received from a colleague later this afternoon very interesting.

Our Regional Preparedness Coordinator, Denise Herkey-Jarosch, delivered a Be Red Cross Ready program to 27 students in the Buffalo School District's Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program. These are some of the city's newest residents, and now they have an important new skill. You see, today's program included Citizen Hands-Only CPR! 

Today's program at the Herkimer Site in Buffalo was the first time the Red Cross has offered Citizen CPR to ESL students, and as you can see from the photos, the instruction was well received. Denise will be presenting this same program to six more Adult ESL classes throughout the month of August, so even more folks will be prepared should they find themselves in a situation like the manager in the above story.

If you'd like to learn more about Hands Only CPR, click here or visit www.redcross.org/takeaclass for a full list of Red Cross Health & Safety courses. To schedule a FREE disaster preparedness course such as the one Denise taught today at your school, business or other organization, contact her at denise.herkey-jarosch@redcross.org or (716) 878-2231.