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On May 12, a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck in southwestern China, leaving thousands dead, and many more injured or missing. Almost immediately, the Red Cross Society of China initiated a relief operation. Their employees and volunteers rushed to the affected area, where they continue to distribute relief supplies, such as tents, quilts and other material.

For further information or to donate please link to American Red Cross

American Red Cross Responds as Severe Storms Rip Central U.S.

Monday, May 12, 2008 - Families across Missouri, Oklahoma, and Georgia spent Mother's Day searching through their damaged homes and beginning the long road to recovery after a series of severe storms and tornadoes ripped across the central U.S. on Saturday. Media reports indicated that twenty-three people were killed by the storms, and at least 150 more were injured.

The American Red Cross has dispatched several teams of disaster assessment volunteers to the hardest hit areas to determine how many people need help and how much help they will need. In Oklahoma, shelters are open in the hardest hit areas and mobile feeding trucks have been circulating through the neighborhoods with food for survivors and emergency workers. Three Red Cross shelters were opened in Missouri on Saturday night and three emergency response vehicles are there as well. In Georgia, the damage and the Red Cross services are scattered through out the southern portions of the state, as Red Cross workers concentrated on meeting the basic needs of people affected.

In addition, the Red Cross is working with local public health authorities to ensure enough nurses are available to tend to those who lost prescription medications or may need basic first aid care. Mental health workers are also being dispatched to help support the victims of these devastating storms.

For the second straight week, American Red Cross disaster volunteers are caring for tornado ravaged towns and cities across the South. But the work may not be finished as the same storm system dumps large amounts of rain on the east coast. As the clean up begins in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Georgia, the Red Cross is ensuring that people have the food, shelter and clean up supplies that they need.

"The priority of the American Red Cross right now is to get our disaster workers on the ground to provide food, shelter and supplies to the communities devastated by the tornadoes," said Joe Becker, senior vice president, disaster services. "The Red Cross is working with state and local authorities to get all the victims the assistance they need to start down the road to recovery."

As rains continues across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the Red Cross has shelters and volunteers on standby, in the event that homes flood or evacuations are necessary from rising flood water. That, as the Red Cross continues sheltering and feeding in four other states. Distribution of clean up supplies, such as rakes, work gloves, plastic sheeting and trash bags, begins soon in many places and mental health support is in full swing in the affected states.

Mounting a Global Response to a Massive Disaster

On May 2, 2008, a major cyclone struck Myanmar, causing widespread damage and devastation to people in the affected area. In response, the American Red Cross has been mobilizing urgently needed relief supplies and supporting a robust international response. We have seen a tremendous outpouring of compassion from people across the country who have been moved to take action following this disaster.

On Sunday, May 11, a commercial airplane carrying the first shipment of American Red Cross relief supplies touched down in Yangon, Myanmar, to assist survivors of cyclone Nargis. This newly arrived shipment includes an initial supply of 8,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria.

"This is a very critical time for survivors, who are exposed to the elements and vulnerable to diseases, like malaria," said David Meltzer, senior vice president, International Services for the American Red Cross. "Our staff and many others in the humanitarian community are working around the clock to provide assistance as quickly as we can."

As of Friday, May 9, three plane loads of supplies from a Red Cross and Red Crescent warehouse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had arrived in Myanmar, bringing in more than 14 tons of shelter material and other emergency items. These materials, along with stocks from local warehouses-such as hygiene kits, food, water purification tablets, and mosquito nets-are being distributed by the Myanmar Red Cross, who has at least 27,000 volunteers assisting with relief efforts.

"There are considerable challenges to getting relief supplies into the hardest hit areas," said Meltzer. "But this is the priority right now: to get survivors the assistance they need."

So far, the American Red Cross has made available $250,000 in relief supplies, including 10,000 tarps and an additional 12,000 mosquito nets, which will be delivered in the coming days. In addition, the American Red Cross has committed $1.25 million for this relief effort, which includes a pledge of $1 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The American Red Cross will continue to be in close contact with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its other partners to determine further options-including relief items, financial support and personnel-to help people in the affected area.

The American Red Cross provides relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, collects and distributes nearly half of the nation's blood supply, teaches lifesaving skills, and supports military members and families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time, money, and blood to perform its humanitarian mission.

Get Involved and Save a Life!
The American Red Cross encourages everyone to learn the skills that could save a life. Although the importance of being trained in first aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation(CPR) and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) cannot be underestimated, the Red Cross also encourages those unwilling, unable, untrained or unsure how to perform full CPR (cycles of chest compressions and rescue breaths) to instead perform Compression-Only CPR.

Compression-Only CPR involves giving continuous chest compressions (at the rate of 100 compressions per minute) without rescue breaths.

"In any life-threatening emergency, the most important thing a bystander can do is call 9-1-1 right away. If you witness an adult that suddenly becomes unconscious and shows no signs of life (normal breathing and movement) and you are not confident in your ability to perform full CPR, Compression-Only CPR should be performed." says David Markenson, MD, Chair, American Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid, Aquatics, Safety and Preparedness.

Last summer, the Red Cross released the First Aid and CPR for Everyone kit - a resource for teaching yourself and practicing Compression-Only CPR. The First Aid and CPR for Everyone kit is a portable, reasonably priced practice tool that can be used at home, in the office, in classrooms or anywhere it is convenient to practice your skills. The box set features an illustrated guide to demonstrate hand placement on the chest and a compression practice tool to help measure just the right amount of pressure needed to properly administer chest compressions.

Other items included in the kit are a full-length DVD, with easy to follow outlines for basic first aid, building a first aid kit, warning signs of a stroke and what to do in a cardiac emergency. The accompanying Red Cross Emergency First Aid Guide is a useful tool to quickly reference the skills demonstrated on the DVD. As a bonus, the kit comes with the Emergency Action Steps Wallet Card, which offers instructions and a full pictorial on how to help someone suffering a cardiac emergency.

As the nation's leading provider of CPR training, the Red Cross developed the First Aid and CPR for Everyone kit to address the merits of Compression-Only CPR and the public's concern for performing rescue breaths. While this innovative product is not intended to replace the skills learned or the certification gained by participating in a Red Cross training course, the product allows the public to become familiar with lifesaving information and skills.

More than 300,000 Americans suffer from Sudden Cardiac arrest each year. This summer, the American Red Cross chapters across the country will reach out to their communities and promote the importance of learning CPR during the first National CPR and AED Awareness Week, June 1-7.

"The Red Cross has set a goal to reach at least 250,000 people with lifesaving information during National CPR and AED Awareness Week," says Scott Conner, Senior Vice President of Preparedness and Health and Safety Services at the American Red Cross. "Having a week where the nation's attention is focused on the importance of knowing lifesaving skills will bring us one step closer to our mission of having at least one person in every household trained and certified."

First Aid and CPR for Everyone, along with other unique first aid and preparedness products and gifts, can be purchased online through the Red Cross online store or at any of your Southern Oregon Red Cross chapter offices. To find out how to receive full Red Cross First Aid and CPR/ Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training and certification, contact us here at the Southern Oregon Chapter of the American Red Cross.

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