Red Cross volunteers with 30+ years of experience, others with a few years or only a few months of experience had one common goal – to ensure evacuees to East Tennessee from the coastal areas inundated with water and wind from Hurricane Florence had a safe place to stay. They also wanted to be prepared to shelter and care for individuals in the counties of Northeast Tennessee if Hurricane Florence brought flooding to the area. The Northeast Tennessee Chapter had a third goal hidden beneath the other two; passing on knowledge and experience to the newer responders.
Jane Harris is one of the 30-year veteran disaster responders, who has not been significantly involved in the past several years. As she observed the “organized chaos” of this disaster response it was clear some things were the same; and yet, there were many new faces and improved ways of responding. The following were a few of her observations.
The chapter continues to have a strong disaster program with 206 disaster volunteers. Of this number, 43 worked locally in Florence responses, and 17 more were on call to work if needed in shelters, damage assessment, or mass feeding. There were twelve volunteers deployed to work outside our area. The chapter is always in a training mode; issuing 556 certificates for disaster training during the past year, and 89 certificates for disaster training during the Florence response.
“In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first-ahead of personal glory.” - Paul William "Bear" Bryant
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” - Henry Ford
Because all disaster responders participated in the same training – not only for individual positions but in the overall philosophy of the American Red Cross; they know they are part of a team much larger than their individual role and much larger than our local chapter. They understand and accept the mission of the organization. They also observe a feeling of teamwork and inclusiveness when they volunteer in any Red Cross role here in Northeast Tennessee.
When asked why she has continued to volunteer for the Red Cross both locally and around the country for 30+ years; Carolyn Doerfort says, “I can help people in need, but I also enjoy the people I work with. They share a sense of values that I treasure.” Carolyn worked as the lead for Health Services and Mental Health Services for our chapter and for the Tennessee response. She was a resource for nurses working around the clock in three shelters across East Tennessee. Her knowledge is valuable; but, she adds “New eyes looking at problems is wonderful. It is essential that we pass on the knowledge and responsibility to newer volunteers.” From travels around the country she feels the culture of inclusiveness here in Northeast Tennessee is exceptional and helps encourage new volunteers to participate.
Another 30+ year volunteer is Sid McLaughlin, who was the Mass Care Manager for this response. He has deployed on many disasters across the country for the Red Cross, but for health reasons sticks close to home now. He says it is essential for the chapter and the organization to recruit, train and mentor new leaders. He feels one of our local goals must be to train new leaders. Many volunteers want to deliver service, and it is more difficult to find people to provide the coordination function. Sid stated, “I observed many volunteers providing service and coordinating the mass care planning and execution. It was definitely a team at work!”
“Developing skills is as important as training. A larger effort is needed to create a skilled workforce with employment potential.” - Pallam Raju
Many of the Northeast Tennessee volunteers want to develop their potential to respond both here and across the country in disasters.
Jeff and Wendy Moncada are an example of new volunteers. From New Tazewell, TN they had been working this disaster since the first day of the response. They began their training in November 2017, and have taken as much training as possible. They have responded to fire calls in Claiborne County; they have driven the ERV to Mountain City for a Memorial Day & Veteran’s Day events, and have volunteered for the Pillow Case Project. On this disaster, Jeff had learned the ropes in mass feeding from long time experts Jim Brice and Stewart Chapman. Wendy worked in logistics and supply. Jeff and Wendy deployed to Raleigh, NC as ERV drivers; they had taken their first national assignment, another great learning experience for them.
David Long, from Bluff City, has been a volunteer in Disaster Spiritual Care for two years. He had deployed three times and worked on local responses. He has been to Louisiana, Florida, and worked in response to the fires in Gatlinburg. He says working on local disasters gives volunteers great experience and allows them to learn jobs while going home to sleep at night! David stated that there are 22 spiritual care volunteers in Northeast Tennessee. During the Hurricane Florence response, some were working each day at the shelter and others were on call if shelters needed to be opened in the various counties. Observing interaction of the response team over this disaster, he had observed respect and caring among the volunteers managing this response.
Rachelle Burkert, Martha Farmer, and Teresa Rhoton have all had 4-5 years of Red Cross volunteer experience. Rachelle has deployed on ten assignments over four years; she has gained invaluable experience to share locally. Martha and Teresa took logistics training together several years ago, along with other courses. Martha has helped with completing shelter agreements and other disaster preparedness work, but “fell into” managing logistics during the Hurricane Florence response. With excellent guidance from experienced volunteers, Martha used knowledge from her classes and asked lots of questions. When Jane spoke with Martha, she was in the process of sharing her recent experience with Teresa, who assumed some of the responsibility. Teresa stated that she was learning much from her experiences in other Red Cross programs like SAF, Disaster Assessment and Procurement skills as she experienced working with Logistics.
Pat Castle has been a disaster volunteer for 13 years. She worked in Disaster Assessment for eight-nine years. Pat lead the Disaster Assessment planning and response for this disaster. She is also very interested in training more volunteers. During the Hurricane Florence disaster response, Pat instructed 15 individuals with the basic disaster assessment course and 18 individuals were trained to use the electronic RC Collect program. Users can now enter their assessment information directly to an online program by using a mobile application on cell phones. Pat said the process was put in place from years of experienced local volunteers and by the national Red Cross training; this has helped make Disaster Assessment work more efficient. She had volunteers on standby in each of our counties, which would have enabled response if flooding had occurred in our area. Pat said the hardest part of disaster assessment is keeping volunteers engaged when local events seldom occur.
It should be noted that the chapter has a new Executive Director, Kalen Collins, who experienced her first disaster on home turf. In response was experienced Disaster Program Manager, Dawn Day; Disaster Program Specialist, Larry Nelson; and Volunteer Engagement Specialist, Angela Morris. The staff was present on and off in the DOC, and were providing the support.
There were around 30 individuals who evacuated to East Tennessee from the Carolinas. They had a safe welcoming place to stay due to the care and response of local disaster workers. The Red Cross had planned a response to potential flooding in each Northeast Tennessee county. Mother Nature had other plans, and the flooding did not occur. But perhaps this was equally importantly, as a great training and learning experience was provided for this disaster team. Collaboration and teamwork between disaster volunteers and staff of varied experience levels was evident, as they all worked together in the name of the American Red Cross.
