When Disaster Strikes
It’s Red Cross Month, and Ed Teixeira of Civil Defense, HPD Chief Boisse Correa and HFD Chief Attilio Leonardi join Coralie Matayoshi, Red Cross executive director, in saluting the organization that is always there when flood, fire, hurricane or other disaster strikes Hawaii.
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Del.icio.usVolunteer-instructor David Kikau says Red Cross is comprised of “special people with special qualities.” These are people, he says, dedicated to community service with understanding and empathy.
He can count himself among those special individuals. Kikau, security manager at Queen’s Medical Center, has been an instructor since 1999, training professional rescuers. The Punchbowl resident also is a member of the Army National Guard.
What he does at the Red Cross and elsewhere in the community is not heroics, he claims. “Life is fragile and short,” he reflects. “We must make an impact.”
• Red Cross provides for emergency communications for military families.
True. The organization is chartered by Congress to provide emergency communications between deployed Hawaii soldiers and their loved ones. Over 1,800 messages are sent between soldiers and their families, including birth or death notices. Red Cross will get a message to a service person even if he/she is half way across the world in a submarine.
Red Cross also does international tracings to reunite families who have been torn apart by war or disaster. There are about five cases a year. Kauai sisters separated during the Holocaust were reunited, thanks to efforts of the Red Cross.
• Red Cross teaches pet first aid.
True. If your pet goes into cardiac arrest, would you know what to do? Volunteer-instructor Robert Harris provides training in pet first aid and other life-saving techniques.
Harris says he enjoys teaching people what to do in an emergency. “I am encouraged by people who want to learn how to help one another,” he says. It’s a natural, he adds, for Islanders living in an isolated place like Hawaii, where one must learn to be self-sufficient.
All Red Cross training and services are free, another “gift from the people of Hawaii.”
• More youth volunteers are needed.
True. There are many opportunities for young people to get involved in the Red Cross. Students can join the Red Cross Club at local campuses or help teach kids how to swim at free summer programs. Sessions for adults and children are June through August at Ala Moana Beach Park.
Christopher Solusod, 16, a junior at Kalani High School, has been a Summer Buddies participant for the past three years. This program provides leadership building skills for teens interested in aquatic programs. Buddies help water safety instructors with swim lessons and provide support, such as his mother Charlene does.
“It gives you responsibility and teaches you to be tolerant and patient with little kids,” Solusod says. “It’s fun, too. After each session, we enjoy water activities like snorkeling and diving, or take excursions to the aquarium.”
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