Letter from East Tennessee Executive Director, Sharon Hudson - Dec. 2019

As another football season is winding down and basketball has started, I want to extend a big thank you to Liana and James Pesterfield for their leadership with F.A.S.T. (First Aid Station Team) and to every F.A.S.T. team volunteer that gives their time and talent on game days. The Pesterfield’s recruit and train 80 volunteers and provide medical assistance at the University of Tennessee home football games and medical bag checks at the UTK Basketball home games. The football stadium is host to 102,455 fans on game days and the F.A.S.T team is there to provide medical attention, from bee stings to major trauma. 

The F.A.S.T. team is made up of Red Cross volunteers from multiple Red Cross Chapters in Tennessee and Georgia, along with students from South College, Roane State, and Pellissippi State.  The team includes highly skilled volunteers, including Advanced First Aid Providers, Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, Registered Nurses and Doctors. All are volunteers for the Red Cross.

On average, the F.A.S.T. team provides over 10,000 to 12,000 volunteer hours for the East Tennessee Chapter each year.  This makes up 25% of the hours for our chapter for the year.  So a huge heartfelt Thank you goes out to the F.A.S.T. team and Liana and James Pesterfield.