By: Gordon Williams, American Red Cross Volunteer

The American Red Cross Northwest Region is seeking more individuals to help support the nation’s military by serving within military medical facilities. Such facilities abound in Washington and they are supported by more than 200 Red Cross volunteers.

The largest concentration of those volunteers, 80 of them, serve at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma. Others work at military facilities in Bremerton and Spokane and on Whidbey Island. These volunteers serve under the direction of Kristin Mather, regional Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program manager in the Red Cross Northwest Region.

So what would you be asked to do as a volunteer at one of these facilities?

The first thing to know is that you don't have to possess medical skills or training to succeed in the role. Age is no barrier either: Mather says most of her volunteers are between the age of 60 and 80. The jobs don’t impose heavy physical demands, so the average person should have little or no trouble performing them.

In terms of the specific volunteer roles you could be asked to do as an SAF volunteer, Mather ticks off two that are always in demand: information desk and patient escort.

INFORMATION DESK VOLUNTEER ROLE Each of the two main entrances at Madigan feature an information desk. Mather explains that your role at the desk would be to “meet and greet everyone who comes through the front door.”

In this position, you would answer questions and direct visitors to where they needed to go. Shifts for this role are spent mostly seated comfortably in a chair, so physical demands would be nil, allowing almost anyone to do the job.

PATIENT ESCORT VOLUNTEER ROLE Volunteers serving as patient escorts assist in wheeling patients around the facility.

“First, you would make sure that wheelchairs are always available for patient use,” Mather said. “When asked, you would wheel patients from clinic to clinic.”

Most of this work is done indoors, though from time to time you could venture into the parking lot to wheel a newcomer into the hospital, or help someone being discharged from the hospital. You obviously would need to be mobile to do patient escort, but wheelchairs roll easily and no heavy lifting is required.

Red Cross volunteers are on the job Monday through Friday. As to working hours, Mather says, “We ask volunteers to be there at least two hours on at least one day a week.”

However, scheduling is anything but rigid. “There are no fixed shifts,” she said. ”This is one of the most flexible positions we have in Service to the Armed Forces. We try to accommodate everyone.”

Thus Mather has one volunteer who works on Mondays and Thursdays and another who works Tuesdays and Wednesday and one volunteer who works every other Friday. 

Mather is herself a military veteran, having served four years in the U.S. Army. She came to the Red Cross two years ago as part of a work-study program run by the Veterans Administration.

We asked Mather what sort of individuals are best suited for these hospital support roles.

“The best volunteers are open and friendly and approachable. They should enjoy meeting people,” she said.

And while Mather is recruiting for desk assistants and patient escorts, there is still another job she is anxious to fill: that of her number two. That would be a volunteer willing and able to lift some of the managerial functions from Mather’s shoulders.

“I’m looking for someone to lead the volunteers at Madigan,” she said.

Included in the skill set needed for that job, she says, is a volunteer with some experience as a supervisor, with a friendly open demeanor and some skills in using a computer.

If giving your time to support the Red Cross at military hospitals appeals to you, you can begin your volunteer application by clicking here.