RED CROSS LEADS DISASTER TRAINING WORKSHOP

Disasters disrupt lives. But thanks to emergency services of the American Red Cross, the disruptions caused by fire, flooding and other unforeseen events are often eased.

"A fire can tear a person's life apart for a few days," said Mike Shannon, field service representative for the American Red Cross, told a local gathering Monday. "All at once you can find yourself without food, clothing and shelter."

During those "few days" the Red Cross can offer help, said Shannon, who conducted a disaster workshop at the Cape Girardeau County Red Cross office.

The local Red Cross chapter has helped 16 families hit by fires during the past two months, said Mary Burton, executive director of the Cape County Red Cross.

Attending the day-long session were about 20 representatives of city, county and state agencies, including Martha Vandivort, deputy director of the Cape County Office of Emergency Preparedness; Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department; Mark Hasheider of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department; Mark Winkler, area coordinator for District E of the Missouri Emergency Management Agency; and Shawn Swift, disaster services chairman of the local chapter.

"I wanted to learn more about the Red Cross procedures," said Winkler, who works at the Cape Girardeau EMA office. "They do a good job in the Cape Girardeau area, and they're always on the scene during a disaster."

Vandivort echoed Winkler's remarks, adding that the workshop also provided an opportunity to meet other people involved in emergency relief.

"The program is designed to help all emergency personnel develop skills and knowledge to meet the needs of individual and families in disaster situations," said Shannon. "It's an opportunity for emergency people to learn the roles of others involved in emergency situations, whether it involves one victim, or thousands of victims."

Shannon explained the goal of the Red Cross in helping disaster victims: "We want to put a family as near as possible to living conditions they had before the disaster. Sometimes this is not possible. We evaluate a family's losses and needs, and sometimes, losses are not necessarily needs."

He said the Red Cross had put together a list of basic emergency needs.

"Food, clothing and shelter are the primary basic needs," he said. "There are a lot of ways we can go about providing these needs. In the case of a large disaster, we may have to utilize a large building, like a school, to house many people. In some cases, we may put a family up in a motel, or rental property for a few days."

He also explained that the Red Cross wants people to utilize local businesses with special vouchers, issued for food and clothing.

"We don't tell people which merchant to spend these vouchers at," said Shannon. "That is their choice. We just urge that the vouchers be spent locally."

The Cape Girardeau Red Cross chapter has been busy this year.

"During the 1990-91 fiscal year July to June we assisted 46 families from fires," said Burton. "The past two months, we've helped 16 families who experienced fires, and during the Nov. 19 flooding, we offered assistance to six families."

A total of $3,558 was spent helping fire victims in November and December, an average of about $222 per family. Cost of flood assistance was a total of $311.

In addition to helping fire and flood victims, the local chapter provided help and assistant to many military families.

"Our military case load was high due to the Persian Gulf crisis this year," said Burton. "We provided military emergency assistance to 325 military families between January and June.