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First-Time Volunteer Calls Experience “Above Expectations”
Written by
Season Cooley
, Special to Redcross.org
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 — JACKSON, Miss. – The American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina disaster operations headquarters in Jackson, Miss., recently said goodbye to Dr. Mallory Read, a retired emergency physician from Norfolk, Va., who has just finished his first two-week deployment with the Red Cross.
While the retiree keeps his medical license current, in part, so that he can care for his grandchildren when they suffer from common childhood ailments, his main reason for maintaining it is to be a member of the Medical Reserve Corps.
The Medical Reserve Corps is a nationwide organization that functions under the direction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Corps is activated in the event of national emergencies, such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Read’s unit is based out of Virginia Beach, Va.
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Read said that he prayed for the victims and felt that God wanted him to help, but he was unsure of how and in what capacity he would do so. Then, he received an e-mail from the Corps asking for doctors and nurses that were available to deploy with the Red Cross for a two- to three-week period.
Read said that he felt that his prayers had been answered, and he e-mailed back simply: “Can deploy.”
Within a few days, Read was going through Red Cross pre-deployment training, and then he was off. Read’s two-week deployment was spent with Red Cross Health Services, providing medical evaluations and advice to Red Cross nursing staff at 11 Red Cross shelters in the Jackson, Miss., area.
The main problem he observed for evacuees was that they either hadn’t had time to get their prescription medication refilled before leaving or had run out of it while staying at the shelters. Read found local pharmacies to be extremely willing to help. Similarly evacuees were dealing with lost eyeglasses and hearing aids. Read spoke with the director of Wal-Mart pharmacy services, located in Little Rock, Ark., who indicated that Wal-Mart vouchers had been honored for replacements of both.
As a first-time Red Cross volunteer, Read observed adn praised his coworkers – many of them local doctors – as extremely helpful.
One doctor, a pediatrician, saw many adult patients when there was overflow. Another, who had taken September off to move his practice to Florida, instead decided to donate his time and skills to the Red Cross relief efforts. He set up one or two-day clinics at the shelters to provide diabetes care and blood pressure control, according to Read. For Read, it is impossible to overstate the value of yet another doctor, chief of neuropathy at a local university medical center, who helped many survivors in need of advanced special care. In fact, a woman in her 40s, who had experienced severe headaches all of her life, was sent by the medical volunteer for a CAT scan and MRI. Because of his intervention, a previously undiagnosed blood vessel malformation was discovered for which she received treatment.
Read also acknowledged the “phenomenal, remarkable, incredible role" of area churches in supporting the relief operations. Many of them had opened their buildings, community centers, family life centers and other buildings for the relief operations as well as offering shelter, food and hope to Hurricane Katrina survivors. He was impressed by the cooperative effort.
Read called his first time volunteering for the Red Cross “way above expectations” and indicated that he would certainly do it again.
Season Cooley is the Health and Safety Director at the Southwest Missouri Chapter in Joplin, Mo., and has been deployed to Jackson, Miss., to support Hurricane Katrina relief operations there.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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