Greater Cincinnati Tri-State Region, American Red Cross
Greater Cincinnati Tri-State Region, American Red Cross
As the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impacts our communities, the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the American Red Cross is working with public health officials to ensure the safety of our clients and workforce while providing continued delivery of the Red Cross mission. We are focusing special attention during this public health emergency on ensuring that we can continue to provide critical relief services to people affected by disasters big and small.
Disaster Relief
To bring relief and comfort to communities affected by what we expect to be another destructive spring storms and floods season, while also maintaining our daily responses to local emergencies like home fires, we are prepared to deliver our core disaster relief services, while adapting to public health challenges and ensuring the safety of our staff and clients. As such, we have incorporated new protocols to:
- Equip and train disaster workers to provide a safe environment for those affected.
- Provide health screenings of volunteers and employees who provide disaster relief services as well as client assessment.
- Institute enhanced daily cleaning of shelters and food service spaces and create isolation areas within shelters to ensure that if disaster workers or clients become ill, there is a safe and comfortable place for them to rest until we can secure other accommodations for them.
- Provide some key services (such as counseling and financial assistance) virtually.
- Work with community partners to provide meals and relief supplies like cots, blankets and comfort kits for people in need.
Preparedness
The number one disaster crisis in the community is injuries and deaths due to home fires. To reduce those numbers, the Red Cross was installing FREE smoke alarms and batteries and providing FREE prevention education to school-age children grades 3-5.
The Covid-19 virus has severely impacted our ability to continue installing alarms, and in-person presentations to youth during the “social distancing requirement. We expect to re-launch our efforts with our “Sound the Alarm” install campaign, when virus bans are lifted
Training Services
The American Red Cross is the nation’s leading provider of health and safety courses, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, automated external defibrillation (AED). Each year, nearly 5.9 million people in the U.S. receive our training, education and information, including first responders, who want to be prepared to help others in an emergency.
Unfortunately, we are also anticipating a gap in training services funding. Many classes have been cancelled and those classes that exist require social distancing, thus limiting participant capacity. We have had to implement additional precautions and protocols during training to mitigate disease transmission that must be observed until this virus has run its course. The Red Cross has developed blended learning partial computer-based training with modified “in person practical skills testing sessions” where 80% of the class is now conducted online. New program development was associated with unanticipated expense.
Leadership Development Camp
Every year the Red Cross hosts a Leadership Development Camp for youth ages 13-17, for a 4-day 3-night leadership experience on the Campus of Xavier University. This unique camp is led by youth Counselors, who have been Campers. They prepare and “teach” the seminars on topics like Diversity and Leadership, and campers also get to experience life on a college campus. The Covid-19 virus has closed down Xavier and the historical ‘camp’ experience,
Ways to Help
Unprecedented public health concerns caused by the coronavirus outbreak pose significant challenges as the American Red Cross continues to deliver its lifesaving mission. We must adapt to those challenges but doing so requires urgent additional investments to support people across the U.S. who rely on our irreplaceable blood and disaster relief services.
This is a time for communities to come together and support one another. Please stand with us to help ensure the American Red Cross can continue to deliver vital support to the Greater Cincinnati region during this public health emergency. On behalf of those we serve, the Red Cross respectfully requests your monetary donations to help us continue to provide disaster relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds will help us make the urgent investments needed to ensure people can continue to turn to the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the American Red Cross for help and hope—when it’s needed most.
