{"id":31898,"date":"2014-07-29T17:56:10","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T00:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=31898"},"modified":"2014-10-02T14:25:07","modified_gmt":"2014-10-02T21:25:07","slug":"red-cross-organizing-hill-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2014\/07\/29\/red-cross-organizing-hill-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Cross organizing Hill volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michelle
Michelle Aleman (left), disaster program coordinator for the American Red Cross of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and Patricia Schnetzer, the Red Cross volunteer coordinator for Idyllwild\u2019s Mountain Disaster Preparedness group, spoke to a large gathering of volunteers at the Idyllwild Fire Station last week.
Photo by J P Crumrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the lack of an imminent emergency, several American Red Cross officials were in Idyllwild Tuesday evening, July 22. And they were very complimentary of the local residents involved in Red Cross efforts and the Mountain Disaster Preparedness group\u2019s efforts to keep the Hill prepared for a potential disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdyllwild is a model program,\u201d said Debbie Leahy Graves, the Regional Disaster program officer. She shared that the district executive officer frequently mentions and points out the Idyllwild effort as a model program to other communities.<\/p>\n

Since the initial meetings in the early fall of 2013, MDP has focused its attention on gaining a bond with the Riverside Red Cross Chapter. One of the major steps was recruiting Pat Schnetzer, a former registered nurse, to head the effort of finding and training Red Cross volunteers.<\/p>\n

The regional Red Cross has already recognized her success. In the intervening 12 months, Schnetzer has recruited 40 volunteers to help with Red Cross events on and off the Hill.<\/p>\n

Red Cross service is \u201can opportunity to help people in need,\u201d Graves commented. \u201cI commend all of you and the entire community for what you\u2019ve done to bring [Idyllwild] to the next level. That\u2019s preparedness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves and others promised a prompt Red Cross in case a catastrophe might occur on the Hill. \u201cYou might be alone for awhile, but we\u2019re in the background ramping up to get here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a unique group; head and shoulders above most communities in preparedness and resiliency,\u201d said Tom Hyatt, disaster program manager for the Riverside County chapter.<\/p>\n

Red Cross plans to hold quarterly meetings in Idyllwild. Also, both Michelle Aleman, disaster program coordinator and her boss, Hyatt, will support the Idyllwild Red Cross initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing forward, we need more frequent training,\u201d Schnetzer said. And Graves and Hyatt are prepared to deliver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll focus on training and building capacity,\u201d Hyatt promised during the meeting. \u201cThe bottom line is we\u2019re here to support you.\u201d One of the first training sessions will be explaining and preparing participants to use the Red Cross\u2019s online features, especially \u201cVolunteer Connection.\u201d Future sessions will address access to online training capabilities, too.<\/p>\n

One of the needs for many of the local volunteers is more training and participation in the Disaster Action Team activities. Since these teams are normally activated in response to home fires, limited opportunities are available on the Hill. In response to a question from Dr. Dick Goldberg, one of MDP\u2019s medical coordinators, Aleman said, \u201cThere are several areas with few calls, so we can create some scenarios to produce and engage between calls so you can get together with fellow volunteers.\u201d She also added that shelter training could be simulated, too.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday after the session, Goldberg was very positive about the future relationship between Red Cross and MDP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very impressed and gratified that the Red Cross leadership came up here to talk to us,\u201d he said. Then he modestly added, \u201cThe compliments were ahead of the curve in terms of preparedness. I don\u2019t think any of us feels that way. There\u2019s so much to do such as managing shelters and the medical aspect of disaster preparedness. But I\u2019m gratified they will really be a presence here and are willing to help Idyllwild.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next Red Cross meeting for the Idyllwild volunteers is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, at the Idyllwild Fire Station. Hill residents interested in becoming Red Cross volunteers may contact Pat Schnetzer at patschnetzer@gmail.com or call her at 818-571-6079.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the lack of an imminent emergency, several American Red Cross officials were in Idyllwild Tuesday evening, July 22. And they were very complimentary of the local residents involved in Red Cross efforts and the Mountain Disaster Preparedness group\u2019s efforts to keep the Hill prepared for a potential disaster. \u201cIdyllwild is a model program,\u201d said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":31899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRed Cross organizing Hill volunteers • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2014\/07\/29\/red-cross-organizing-hill-volunteers\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2014\/07\/29\/red-cross-organizing-hill-volunteers\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/MDP.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":482,\"caption\":\"Michelle Aleman (left), disaster program coordinator for the American Red Cross of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and Patricia Schnetzer, the Red Cross volunteer coordinator for Idyllwild\\u2019s Mountain Disaster Preparedness group, spoke to a large gathering of volunteers at the Idyllwild Fire Station last week. 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