New American Red Cross Online Tools Help Businesses and Schools Prepare for Emergencies
The American Red Cross has launched a new collection of free, online tools to help businesses, schools and other organizations prepare for emergencies.
These enhancements to the Red Cross Ready Rating™ program offer specific steps that organizations can take to be better prepared.
The new features include:
• An Emergency Response Plan Tool, which enables program members to build a customized plan to help their employees know their roles in the first 24-72 hours of an emergency;
• A Next Steps report that recommends specific actions members should take and the level of effort required to execute them;
• A Resource Center that includes preparedness tools including activities and exercises, so businesses, employees and students can better develop and practice preparedness plans;
• A Ready Rating Store with emergency supplies at the click of a button;
• An enhanced user experience that enables easier sign up and access to all tools available.
“Contingency planning is crucial,” said Glen Hendricks, Emergency Services Director, Southeastern Michigan Region “The new Ready Rating program components make it even easier for organizations to get started and to help improve the readiness level for those who already have plans in place.”
Emergencies like power outages, water main breaks and medical emergencies can disrupt daily operations. Disasters like tornados, floods, earthquakes and fires have the potential to cause workplaces to fold and schools to close. In an effort to better prepare for such events, Ready Rating members complete a confidential assessment of their current readiness level for emergencies and receive immediate, customized feedback with tips and resources for them to improve their readiness scores.
More than 1,300 businesses and organizations and nearly 450 schools are already Ready Rating members. Members have increased their assessment scores – some by as much as 42 percent. 93 percent of members rate the service as good to excellent.
The Ready Rating program is consistent with Private Sector or PS-Prep Standards developed by the Department of Homeland Security. Anheuser-Busch Companies is the program’s national founding sponsor and Sam’s Club is a national sponsor.
More information about this valuable program and the new components can be found at readyrating.org.
Red Cross Urges People to Volunteer
If you like helping people, the Red Cross is the place for you.
DETROIT, MI, APRIL 19, 2012 — This National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, the Southeastern Michigan Region is celebrating its dedicated volunteers and partners. These volunteers power the American Red Cross, making it possible for the organization to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.
The Red Cross is also encouraging people who have been thinking about volunteering to take the plunge. People wanting to make a difference should contact the Southeastern Michigan Region to learn about getting involved. Right now the Red Cross especially needs people who would like to help their community.
Volunteers are central to the work of the Red Cross in Southeast Michigan and in communities across the country, as on average, the Red Cross has 15 volunteers for every one employee. These volunteers are people in action—whether providing comfort to a family whose home has been washed away in a flood or getting an emergency message to a member of the military whose father is critically ill.
American Red Cross volunteers...
• Teach first aid, CPR, swimming and other lifesaving skills.
• Respond to disasters and reconnect families separated by disasters or conflict.
• Support blood drives across the country.
• Help veterans, members of the military and their families in the U.S. and overseas.
Red Cross volunteers are united by their service and the feeling that in changing others’ lives, their lives are also changed. To volunteer, contact the Southeastern Michigan Regional Chapter at semredcross.org; 313-576-4158.
American Red Cross Responds to Deadly Midwest Tornadoes
The American Red Cross is responding across the Midwest where dozens of tornadoes ripped through communities overnight, destroying buildings and downing power lines. Red Cross workers are already operating shelters and providing meals, and more help is on the way.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by these tornadoes,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. “Red Cross chapters are already offering folks food and a safe place to stay and more workers and equipment are being sent it to help people who were in the path of these storms.”
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center reported at least 97 tornadoes blew across Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Particularly hard hit were the towns of Woodward and Norman in Oklahoma, the towns of Creston and Thurman in Iowa and areas in and around Wichita, Kansas. Currently, hundreds of relief supplies are being moved to the affected areas. These supplies include comfort kits, tarps, coolers, rakes and other cleanup supplies. The Red Cross is also sending in additional staff and disaster equipment.
SAFE AND WELL The Red Cross encourages people to register on the Red Cross Safe and Well website to let loved ones know they are safe by visiting www.redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). From a smart phone, visit www.redcross.org/safeandwell and click on the “List Yourself as Safe and Well” or “Search for Friends and Family” link.
People in the affected areas can let loved ones know their status on the Safe and Well site. Friends and family outside the disaster area can then search for messages from their loved ones by using a pre-disaster phone number or complete address. Safe and Well also enables disaster survivors to update their Facebook and Twitter status through the website.
SAFETY STEPS Officials said the severe weather may continue today from Texas to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the country. Information about what to do if tornadoes threaten is available on the Red Cross web site.
The Red Cross reminds people who live in areas hit by the overnight storms that they should not return to their neighborhoods until authorities say it is safe to do so. Other safety steps include:
* Stay out of damaged buildings.
* Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and sturdy shoes when examining homes for damage.
* Watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines and report them to the utility company immediately.
* Use battery-powered flashlights when examining buildings—do NOT use candles.
* If someone notices a gas smell or hears a hissing noise, they should open a window and get everyone out of the building quickly. They should also call the gas company or fire department.
* Keep animals under control.
* Clean up spilled medications, bleaches, gasoline or other flammable liquids that could become a fire hazard.
HOW TO HELP People can help those affected by disasters like these tornadoes, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Consider making a donation today by visiting www.redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to someone’s local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Contributions enable the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters.
ANNUAL DISASTER GIVING PROGRAM The Red Cross is able to respond quickly when emergencies happen with the help of corporations who are members of the organization’s Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP). ADGP members pledge donations on an ongoing basis to allow the Red Cross to pre-position supplies and be ready to take immediate action when disasters occur.
ADGP members include 3M, Altria Group, Aon, Bank of America, Caterpillar Inc., Cisco Foundation, Citi Foundation, ConAgra Foods Foundation, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Darden Restaurants, Inc., Dell, Inc., Dr Pepper Snapple Group, FedEx Corporation, GE Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, John Deere Foundation, Johnson Controls, Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Kraft Foods, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Merck, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide Insurance Foundation, Northrop Grumman, Optum, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation, Ryder Charitable Foundation, Southwest Airlines, State Farm, Target, The TJX Companies, Inc., UnitedHealthcare, UPS, Walmart, The Walt Disney Company and Wells Fargo.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies more than 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 American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.
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