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Red Cross Training - Part Deux

Red Cross Instructor Extraordinaire

So the next step in being ready to do Red Cross Disaster Relief stuff is to take the Intro to Disaster Relief and Mass Care Course, for which you get a certificate! (And it gets mailed - so I bet my name will be typed on it - that's cool.) Well, that 4 hour course was tonight. Here is what resulted:

* I learned that cookies are important to disaster relief efforts. In all of the videos, that was one of the first thing that the disaster responders made sure was on the ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle - not creature from Star Wars).

* It is really, really, really hard to pay attention to (and take seriously) an instructional video hosted by William Baldwin. Yes, the one and only. And the video actually starts out with a scene from "Backdraft" where he is in an apartment saving a little kid. But it doesn't tell you that that is what the scene is - it just starts all dramatic. And I'm sitting here (as a member of the "Backdraft" generation) thinking, "This looks really familiar! Either this was a famous fire, or this is 'Backdraft'" - but I was joking. I didn't think that the video would actually start out with a scene from "Backdraft." Then the clip ends and up pops Billy, in a blue oxford shirt, jeans and the same haircut as he had in the movie. "Hi, that was a scene from 'Backdraft,' in which I played a firefighter. Disaster volunteers like yourself will respond to emergencies such as that." I hope he won't be at every emergency I respond to, because his hair is probably a real fire hazard with all of that gel in it.

* There was that one woman in the class who took the "Active Listening" class at her local "Learn how to look like you care about what people are saying" center. You know exactly the woman I am talking about. Every single thing that anyone says, she makes the appropriate noise or little comment to show that she is paying attention. "Oh, yeah. Yep. Uh oh. Oh wow. Sure. OK. Yeah." But it's not just like I was sitting next to her and heard her do it under her breath...she was at the other end of the table. It was almost like she was having a one-on-one conversation with our instructor and Billy Baldwin, and was showing her attention to every word they said.

* The Orientation class last week, as you will recall, was 2 hours long and we got a 10 minute break and free "pop." (That's "soda" for all of you from places where they speak English and not Minnesotan. The biggest challenge since I moved here has been finding the soda aisle in the grocery store.) The Intro to Disaster Stuff class was 4 hours long with a 10 minute break and a soda machine where you could purchase refreshment for $1.25. I guess they hooked us with the free soda the first night.

* One woman in the class wants to volunteer to go overseas for disaster help. The instructor asked her what her training or background is. She said, "I have a passport and an international drivers license. I'm good to go." Then he asked if she spoke a second language. "No. Well, no. No, not unless you count toddler!" (Ok, by now it's time to stop being distracted and get back to the topic on hand and press play so we can watch Billy's next segment.) Then he asked if she had any specific training or skills that would help. So she said, "I raised 5 kids by myself as a single mother, if that's not disaster training, I don't know what is." Do her kids know she thinks about them this way? I say, "Ship her off!!"

But for all that I make fun of these classes...they are great. They provide universal training for all Red Cross volunteers across the country - allowing everyone to help anytime, anywhere, and ensuring that everyone "speaks the same language" when they get into a disaster zone. And I have great admiration for what the Red Cross does, as well as their volunteers and staff. And despite how much I make fun of the people that are next to me in class, at least they are there for the right reasons and all have huge hearts and just want to make a difference. But, WOW, they are freaking hilarious!!!

posted by Steph @ 8:53 PM