Media Contact:
Christine Welch, Communications Director
Email: christine.welch@redcross.org
Phone: 909-374-0376
ORANGE COUNTY – September 16, 2020 – Tracy Gordon Givens of Orange County called on her American Red Cross training in First Aid to help save the life of a gentleman who was injured in a car accident. For her heroic actions, Tracy was honored today by the Red Cross of Orange County and was awarded the Lifesaving Award Certificate of Merit.
“We’re extremely proud of Tracy and her willingness to put her training into action,” said Becky Firey, Executive Director of the American Red Cross of Orange County. “Tracy courageously used her skills to help save a life, and her actions truly embody the spirit and mission of the Red Cross.”
On March 9, 2020, Tracy was told to call 911 after her husband informed her of a car accident outside of their home. Tracy got her phone and ran outside to the scene of the incident. She saw a young man who had just been hit by a vehicle lying in the street. Tracy then began assessing the individual. The young man was incoherent and bleeding in several areas of his body. Tracy instructed her husband to continue the 911 call while she retrieved her medical bag. She then placed gloves on her hands and supported the young man’s head and neck while she cleaned blood off the gentleman’s wounds until Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene. Without a doubt, the skills learned in the American Red Cross Training Services course helped to save the life of this gentleman.
For this heroic action, Tracy was awarded the Lifesaving Awards Certificate of Merit. This is one of the highest awards given by the Red Cross to an individual who sustains a life by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Training Services course.
American Red Cross Training Services teaches lifesaving skills to an average of more than 9 million people each year, including thousands of people in Orange County. Red Cross training empowers people with the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass.
People can go to LifesavingAwards.org to nominate and recognize an individual or group of individuals who have used the skills and knowledge learned in an American Red Cross Training Services course to help save or sustain a life. For more information about the American Red Cross of Orange County, visit redcross.org/SoCal.
About the American Red Cross Southern California Region
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the public to perform its mission. The Red Cross Southern California Region proudly serves San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties. In addition to carrying out disaster preparedness and response programs, blood collection, health and safety training, international services programs and supporting the military community, the Southern California Region provides nutritional counseling through its Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in San Diego and helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters through its Prepare SoCal and Prepare San Diego initiatives. For more information, please visit redcross.org/SoCal or cruzrojaamericana.org, or connect with the Southern California Region on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and YouTube.
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