By Ana Gomez and Kate Walters, American Red Cross

Barb Corsbie, of Cañon City, Colo., kneels beside an evacuee's cot in a Red Cross shelter, quietly wrapping a blood pressure cuff around the resident's arm. Later in her shift, she checks on another resident before calling a pharmacy to help replace a prescription left behind during a hurried evacuation. Throughout the day, one conversation leads to the next as she moves from resident to resident, ensuring each person's medical needs are being met.

Barb is one of the American Red Cross Disaster Health Services (DHS) volunteers supporting people displaced by the Aspen Acres Fire and other Colorado wildfires.

Most shelter residents may never realize the assessments, conversations and behind-the-scenes coordination happening around them.

"People think we're here to respond just when there is a problem in the shelter," said DHS volunteer Marlene Schulze, of Monument, Colo. "Really, we're constantly assessing, checking in and looking for changes so we can help prevent small problems from becoming bigger ones."

There is no fanfare when a prescription is replaced before a dose is missed. No headline when oxygen arrives in time for someone to breathe comfortably through the night. No television cameras when a shelter is adapted to meet someone's unique needs, or when a reassuring conversation eases the anxiety of someone who has lost the comfort of home. Yet these quiet moments happen every day inside Red Cross shelters.

For many evacuees, the challenges don't end once they arrive at a shelter. Some have left behind essential medications, oxygen equipment or mobility devices during a hurried evacuation. Others are managing chronic health conditions while coping with the stress, uncertainty and emotional toll of being displaced from home.

That's where Disaster Health Services steps in.

Working closely with pharmacies, physicians, hospitals, home health agencies and medical equipment providers, DHS volunteers help replace medications, arrange oxygen and other durable medical equipment, coordinate higher levels of care when needed and connect residents with the healthcare resources they need. They identify appropriate sleeping arrangements for residents with mobility challenges, locate bariatric beds and adapt shelter spaces for clients with specialized needs, including creating a quieter space for an autistic teenager overwhelmed by the activity of a busy shelter.

Just as importantly, they provide something medicine alone cannot.

Volunteers like Lisa Dykhoff, of Colorado Springs, Colo., spend their shifts checking in with residents, monitoring chronic health conditions, answering questions, listening to concerns and offering reassurance during one of the most uncertain moments of a person's life. They carefully document concerns and communicate between shifts so each DHS volunteer can build on the work of the previous one, ensuring residents continue receiving the care they need throughout their stay.

The work extends far beyond medical care.

DHS volunteers become trusted listeners, patient problem-solvers and steady sources of comfort. They work alongside shelter staff and community partners to help meet residents' physical, emotional and functional needs, allowing people to focus on recovering from disaster instead of worrying about how they'll manage their health.

While wildfires capture the headlines, DHS volunteers quietly help people navigate the days that follow with dignity, compassion and expert care. It's work few people ever see, but for the people living through a disaster, it makes all the difference.

If you're a licensed healthcare professional looking for a meaningful way to serve your community, consider joining the American Red Cross Disaster Health Services team. Learn more about volunteer opportunities at redcross.org/volunteer.