Shownotes
**Disaster Preparedness**: "If we are separated and a disaster occurs, where's our meeting place a little bit away? Right? Where are those 2 or 3 meeting places in the 20 mile radius, 50 mile radius, where we know that you're gonna be if I can't reach you." — Cory Paul
We welcome Cory Paul, the Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Chapter of the American Red Cross. We discuss a range of crucial topics including the Hero Care Network for service members and their families, training programs like CPR and first aid, and emergency preparedness.
We unpack the Red Cross's comprehensive approach to disaster response, its effective collaboration with emergency management agencies, and the importance of building personalized preparedness kits for your family.
Cory shares insights on the necessity of having essential items like medications, important documents, and comfort items for children during emergencies. We also cover the practical aspects of staying informed and having alternative communication methods in place when disaster strikes.
We explore how you can be better prepared for any unexpected events, the life-saving benefits of AED training, and the importance of community resilience. Whether it's responding to house fires, offering blood services, supporting older adults, or engaging volunteers, the American Red Cross is there to help.
Top Takeaways
**Hero Care Network**: Offers crucial support and resources to service members and their families, addressing unique needs and challenges.
**CPR, First Aid, AED Training**: The Red Cross provides essential life-saving training, including CPR, First Aid, AED training, babysitting classes, and aquatics programs.
**Disaster Preparedness**: The Red Cross collaborates with emergency management agencies and other organizations to mobilize volunteers and resources.
**Personalized Preparedness Kits**: Cory Paul stresses that preparedness kits should be personalized to meet individual and family needs, considering factors such as medications, important documents, pet supplies, and children's comfort items.
**Communication Strategies**: Effective emergency planning includes having alternative methods for contacting loved ones and establishing meeting places in case of separation during disasters.
**Importance of Water and Essentials**: Cory emphasizes building preparedness kits gradually, starting with a 3-day supply of essentials such as water, and integrating emergency planning into daily routines.
**Fire Safety Initiatives**: The Red Cross installs free smoke alarms, conducts home fire safety checks, and provides recommendations for smaller, easier-to-handle fire extinguishers, especially for older adults.
Key Moments
00:00 Dedicated 13-year Red Cross service across Ohio.
05:57 Red Cross provides various services, including disasters.
09:07 First aid, CPR, AED crucial in emergencies.
12:53 Collaboration among agencies for effective emergency response.
16:38 "Tips for preparing and organizing supplies."
19:55 Consider geographic location when preparing for emergencies.
22:49 College dorm fire, electricity issues, disaster experience.
26:26 Prepare emergency kits with essentials for evacuation.
29:19 Prepare for emergencies, stay connected with loved ones.
31:24 Plan emergency locations, connected with family.
35:02 Juggling tornado impact, emergency preparedness for seniors.
40:29 Contact 1-800-Red-Cross for help or classes.
44:02 Free hands-only CPR classes offered by Red Cross.
47:05 Learn from past incidents, use data. Leaders.
48:59 Building relationships with small and large teams.
51:29 Seeking volunteers, motivating, and serving nobly.
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And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.
Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.
Copyright 2024 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
We are Looking Forward Our Way from Studios C in the 511 Studios. That's in the Brewery District in south of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Hi. This is Brett. Nationally and locally, our communities are being struck by disasters whether they're caused by weather, fire, or natural disasters. Today, we're going to learn a bit more about emergency preparedness and how easily we can prepare. Please welcome our expert guest, Cory Paul, the Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Chapter of the American Red Cross. Cory, thanks for joining us today.
Cory Paul [:Thanks for having me.
Carol Ventresca [:We are so glad to see you. And, this, you know, the sort of the joke on the side, I always talk to our guests before they come in. And so I called Cory and I said, I have a backpack. I I have a Red Cross backpack. So it's been it's been a journey for me and and I keep giving them updates, but it's important. And it's not a it's a subject that we hear about when there's a disaster.
Cory Paul [:Wonderful.
Carol Ventresca [:We wanna talk about the subject before there's a disaster and making sure everybody's on the right page. So thank you again for your time today and coming in to see us. Before we really discover more about the Red Cross and emergency preparedness, we wanna talk about you first. So tell us your story, what you've done in your professional career, and what brought you to the Red Cross.
Cory Paul [:Wow. So, first and foremost, thanks for having me. It's always it's gonna be a pleasure. I know that for for sure. And, we'll learn a lot, in this in this short time. I know that. So first and foremost, I'm a veteran. I served, with the, Ohio Army National Guard.
Cory Paul [:I've been with the Red Cross for 13 years. I've traveled all over Ohio, serving the Red Cross. I've, held multiple roles, in the humanitarian organization. I've worked in our disaster response, preparedness and recovery. I've done some work with our veterans, service to the armed forces. And then I served as an executive director both in the Dayton area and in, Columbus here. So, really have, have grown a lot, through the Red Cross. And I'll tell you, before I joined, I really didn't have much connection to it.
Cory Paul [:Mhmm. And I didn't think that this was a, a career choice, a career path. And so, I volunteered with the Red Cross and, went on my first fire, as a volunteer. And I remember that just hitting me very hard and and realizing that it was something special that that myself and other volunteers across the country are able to do, every day is provide comfort and hope to someone who had just had their worst day.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Brett Johnson [:Right? So you mentioned and and I'm gonna this is a little bit of sidebar. You mentioned you're a water baby. You love the hot weather weather and and water. You have a little history in diving as well. Correct. I got a little stocking online Looking, the diving really popped up Looking. So talk about this diving. Yeah.
Cory Paul [:I kinda I kinda fell into it. I kinda dove dove into it. And, Did
Carol Ventresca [:you hard at those plugs? Yeah. A little bit.
Cory Paul [:A little bit.
Brett Johnson [:Just think that
Cory Paul [:we've never talked to a Don't hold your breath.
Brett Johnson [:We've yeah. Right. We've never talked to a diver before, and this is real interesting. So you kinda go into that a little bit.
Cory Paul [:So I I'm a water baby through and through. I I grew up on Lake Erie. Any chance I have to get in any body of water, I'll take it. Whether it's on or in, above, Way wherever it is. Right? And, I, through my student loans at Ohio University, one of the requirements was a work study program. Way. And so I had to do 20 hours a week somewhere on campus. I started in film school, loved that office job, sending out envelopes, that kind of stuff.
Cory Paul [:Right? And then, took the scuba class that is a elective class, and fell in love with it. Oh, wow. And the next semester, or quarter at the time, I raised my hand and said, hey, do you have any openings to be in the leadership and learn the more advanced piece of diving? And, the rest is history. I was able to teach, students pretty much my own age in the pool. I spent 4 hours of of in the pool almost every every week. It was wonderful. And then you got, like I got free trips all over the place to go and do diving with all these college students. It was it was wonderful.
Brett Johnson [:That's so
Cory Paul [:cool. Yeah. It's the most peaceful Looking. I'll tell you, being underwater, just blowing bubbles.
Brett Johnson [:It's the most peaceful thing. It's just that that the the draw of the peacefulness.
Cory Paul [:Oh. Yeah. Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:That's what I've heard.
Carol Ventresca [:We're gonna we're gonna give a shout out to a friend of Brett's and mine to to Martha Cotton, who is a diver. Okay. And she dives the Grand Caymans and does all of the there's some, like, awards you get if you do so many dives in so many different places. So, we're gonna shout give a shout Our, and I just saw her the other night. So I'll have to tell her we talked about
Brett Johnson [:it. Exactly.
Carol Ventresca [:She's she's a I don't think she I don't know if she is currently, certified to teach. I think she did, but I'll have to check on that.
Cory Paul [:So Wonderful.
Carol Ventresca [:There you go. Alright.
Brett Johnson [:Well, back to business. Okay. So Red Cross has a long history of serving Americans. They're now a 143 years old. We've all heard the story of Claire Barton and her work to serve soldiers during the civil Way, but the Red Cross has grown in to begin at internationally renowned for serving the military, coordinating blood donations, housing victims of disasters, and a lot more. Talk about the Red Cross and your role as the executive director in serving Central Ohio.
Cory Paul [:Well, great. You mentioned a lot of the lines of service that the Red Cross is able to do. So, most people, when they think about the Red Cross, they think about either blood services, biomedical services, and those are typically kind of the most forefront of the services we provide. You see a big disaster on the TV and then you see the Red Cross, you know, supporting that. You see the need for blood drives, especially in the, in the summer months. There there typically, is a need for more blood at the indeed those times. And so, those two lines of service, take up a big chunk of the work that we do locally. So, the Red Cross responds to house fires.
Cory Paul [:We do that in in Central Ohio and respond to at least 1 a day. And volunteers do most of this work. We have many blood drives a day whether they're at fixed site locations or whether they're at that church group or civic organization. But we also serve veterans and service members about 500,000 times a year across, internationally. We, send emergency communications back and forth from family members to service members and the command, in case there's a there's an issue at home that requires their attention.
Carol Ventresca [:Oh, that's good to know. I had never heard that. Okay.
Cory Paul [:So that's the hero care network. And, service members and their families, should make themselves aware of that because there are some opportunities, to to help themselves and to work through that veteran network. There are also CPR first aid AED classes all over the place, most days of the week. That's our training services, department. They do a lot of really great work in babysitting and some aquatics. And, yeah. Again, CPR, First Aid.
Carol Ventresca [:And then babysitting class has been going on forever because I remember that when I was a little kid. So it it and what a way to give a young person, girl or boy, the, self confidence to be taking care of somebody else's child.
Cory Paul [:Right. And that that parent has a little bit more confidence in that person. Right? So there's confidence all around about being able to respond to whatever that emergency might be. Right? Then we have international services where we, we have programs called, like, Restoring Family Links. We also work in the measles and rubella, initiative, internationally. And so, there are small bits of, volunteers and programs that do that kind of work here in Central Ohio.
Carol Ventresca [:When you mentioned, the CPR AED pro training programs, We heard CPR forever. Tell us about AED. That's new.
Cory Paul [:Right. So the, AED. AED stands for automated external defibrillator. Right. And I'm so happy that I got that right the first time.
Carol Ventresca [:I let you say it. I didn't.
Cory Paul [:And they are lifesavers. First aid and CPR, absolutely are necessary in responding to, an emergency, walking into a room and seeing someone collapsed or, being at work or at school, being somewhere in public and someone having, you know, some sort of emergency. Knowing what to do in those situations, knowing what not to do in those situations, I think, are very important. The AED is that next generation, next level of support for that person who's experiencing a cardiopulmonary incident. And, what that does is basically, you follow the directions right on it. It tells you almost exactly what to do. You place the pads on on the body, where it tells you to place them. And again, it tells you exactly what to do, and it basically would shock your heart back into rhythm.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Cory Paul [:And so that plus CPR, is is the way to go. So, next time you're in a building, a public space, next time you're at work, look for where that AED might be.
Carol Ventresca [:Well, and and I this is what I love about doing our podcast. We don't know who's gonna be listening to it and it's important that an individual who may need CPR is one thing. But how maybe it's an employer who wants an Way AED training in their location, and they need to buy an AED piece of equipment, which they can do through the Red Cross.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely. Yeah. Both the training and the and the products are available at redcross.org.
Carol Ventresca [:Right. Okay. And I'm be beleaguering and belaboring my my incredible Red Cross backpack emergency backpack. Brett thinks I'm crazy. But when when Cory and I spoke on the phone, you know, I mentioned this whole notion of of emergency preparedness really click hit close to home for me because a tornado hit 2 miles from my house. And all of a sudden, I'm like, Way. I need more than just water in my basement. Thank god I have a basement, but I do need more than water.
Carol Ventresca [:It it was not confusing to figure out what you need. It it's really laid out on your website. A lot of websites have have all that, but it's a lot of stuff. So I was really excited when I saw, oh, Red Cross has done that work for me. I can just buy it and it's all together. But the one thing that I think people are not informed as to what they can expect from the Red Cross and other organizations in a disaster and what they really need to take responsibility for for themselves ahead of time, to to really protect themselves and their home and their their own family. So tell us a bit a little bit about what exactly you're Looking. How do you mobilize your team of volunteers to deal with this, you know, and and what we really need to think about for ourselves?
Cory Paul [:Well, great. So, disasters are very complex, whether they are a simple single family house fire where it really is affecting maybe, 1 or 2 families, the the neighborhood is aware. The street maybe is a buzz, and Way help that family or individual, in in multiple ways. But they're very complicated when it comes to disasters. The kind of floods, tornadoes, wildfires that are happening across the country. We're in we're just at the start of hurricane season, so we're gonna see some more tropical storms. We're gonna see some more hurricanes. All of those things disrupt normal life.
Cory Paul [:Right? And when you think about the Red Cross response, when you think about the fire department's response, when you think about the police, medical, really, everything that that could be disrupted really has to pull together. And so we work really very closely with our emergency management agencies, both at the county level, the state level, at federal level, to, help coordinate those kind of responses. There are some things that the Red Cross does. There are some things that the Red Cross doesn't do. There are some things like, that that like the Salvation Army or, again, your local fire department. So there are kind of places for each one of these agencies to support the community. The way that we mobilize, more often than not is through a call from Our partners in the fire department or through the emergency management emergency management agency. We also have volunteers that watch the news.
Cory Paul [:We also have, I've also gotten calls from, from news people saying, hey, we're at a fire. Are are you aware? Oh, great. Yeah. We'll send out a team. Right? So it takes a community to kind of mobilize a lot of these organizations, including our own. First thing we do is is stage our volunteers. So in in the heat at the moment or if we know another, the rivers are rising or if we know storms are gonna be here tonight or tomorrow, we stage our volunteers. They're ready and waiting to go.
Cory Paul [:They have a phone call into them. They have their vest on. They're just waiting for that call. Our vehicles are gassed up. Our, we have trailers that are filled with cots and blankets and things that you would need to set up an emergency shelter. We're in constant communication with our partners around what's coming and where do we need to be when. Mhmm. And so those are kind of the planning pieces, and then the the disaster strikes.
Cory Paul [:And a lot of those plans may sometimes end up going out of the window because it's it's a different different response or a different need. And so being flexible, we say Semper Gumby, always always flexible. Super. And yeah. So I like that. You know, you may have to deploy or respond to this area. But, oh, Way, there's another area across the map that is a little bit more affected or has more vulnerable population. So you really have to make those decisions, game time decisions at that moment.
Cory Paul [:But we can't do it alone. And I think that's the biggest biggest point is through our work with community partners, through our preparedness, sitting down with these folks, these leaders in the community well before disaster occurs is the only right move. Okay. I don't wanna meet you day day 0.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Right? Right.
Cory Paul [:We shouldn't be exchanging business cards at the fire. Right. Yeah. And so, having those kind of pillars, that kind of fundamentals of preparedness and response has served us well for for many, many years.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. So we've all seen the lists of what we should have on hand in the case of an emergency. And I think even Carol may have talked to me about this, like, I was gonna put something together, but then I run across this this great thing from Red Cross, and I got the package, and you know, that kind of stuff. And it's
Carol Ventresca [:daunting to see the list.
Brett Johnson [:So, but but, you know, some people love to put things together. You know, I mean, it's it is kind of fun to be prepared and it is. I mean, you know, you're you know, you're prepared. Let's put it that way. So could you give us some tips and strategies to not only get the items together, but also make it an easy task? Have a you know, it is kind of hard to think about, okay, how many days stuff should I have? And that's how much water I drink over 3 days. I Right. It just but thinking of the water and the food and you have pets and all these other things. You don't think about this.
Brett Johnson [:What may not be available.
Cory Paul [:Right. So I'll tell you quickly is the first thing that I hear from a lot of folks, whether it's an an emergency shelter or whether it's at the, really anywhere people get together after a disaster. When I'm talking to folks who had experienced that, the first thing that they say to me Our commonly that they say is, I never thought this was gonna happen to me.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Cory Paul [:Right? Sure. Sure. And and that's Way. But with, you know, this discussion, I think it's very important. Most people think of it and, Carol, you said it before, most people think of getting a kit the day after the disaster. Right? And that's that's okay too. Whatever can can, kind of motivate you for the next one, I think is very important. I think the daunting piece of this is that no one person's kit or no one family's kit is the same.
Cory Paul [:Right? You have, different dynamic in the family, household unit. You have different needs as an individual.
Brett Johnson [:My sister and brother-in-law call it the Armageddon kit.
Cory Paul [:Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:They have.
Carol Ventresca [:That's true.
Brett Johnson [:You know, that they have it's always in the truck, you know, ready to go. I don't know what exists in it, but that's what they've nicknamed it.
Cory Paul [:So Yeah.
Brett Johnson [:To the point, either you nickname it differently or whatever you pack in it, that's what they think is this necessary. Right.
Cory Paul [:And do you hear these shows about doomsday preppers? You know, you know, people going real real out there.
Brett Johnson [:Real out there. I don't know if it's that to that point, but that, you know, they had to name it something. Right. Right.
Cory Paul [:Well, I'll tell you, I you know, I think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I think of the things that you need right now today, to sustain life just at a normal balance. Right? And this, it is any every day is different. Right? You need your umbrella one day and you, you know, those kind of things. Way I tend to tell people is to start small and to think of 3 days worth of preparedness. What within these next 3 days are you gonna go through? I think about water, 1st and foremost. So 3, 3 days worth of water a gallon per day per person. And that is it could be a lot of water.
Carol Ventresca [:I got a lot of water. Brett, you can come to my house. Yeah.
Cory Paul [:There you go.
Brett Johnson [:Your house is gonna be gone, though. I won't be able to find it. I'm not. And you're gonna be gone because you've got physical maps that you're just I can
Carol Ventresca [:Brett out of town.
Cory Paul [:Out of here.
Brett Johnson [:We will never find you.
Carol Ventresca [:You know, I keep I keep seeing I live between Alum Creek, the dam, and and Hoover Reservoir. You know, if either one of those goes, my house will be gone. I mean, it's just there's water everywhere.
Cory Paul [:Well, and I think you're you're bringing up a good point is, even your geographic location, will make certain determinations on your preparedness. Right? When I do trainings or when I teach classes, I talk about, you know, train derailments or other kind of maybe, human caused situations, or a dam breaking or those kind of things where it's big enough to where it might separate you from family members. Or you're at work, kids are at school, train tracks are between you. What do you do if the unthinkable happens? And how do you communicate to one another? And where is that place outside of the general area that you may meet. Right? All those things are things to think about because they've happened to people, you know, in the past. Right? Back to the preparedness kit. I think, you know, we're poking fun at you, Carol, but the seriousness at at which you take, what you have, even though it's it's it's fun, I think that that however you address the need for what you need in your preparedness kit, whether you buy a full kit and and you keep it where you need to, or you you start small and you shop, one item of your kit every time you go to the grocery.
Brett Johnson [:An extra Canadian Our a Band Aids.
Cory Paul [:Exactly. Or whatever. Right?
Brett Johnson [:No. That makes sense.
Cory Paul [:Right? So then it becomes a little bit more manageable. Mhmm. You could make it a game. Right? You could invite a friend over or get the family together and say, okay. What do we need? If the lights are off, the heat, the the the, you know, we the water's off, the lights are off. We need to stay here for 3 more Way, by order, you know, of of whomever. What do we do? Mhmm. Right? What do we have now, and how can we get that altogether and what would what we need to to procure and that's a great list.
Cory Paul [:But I like I tell people, every time you go to the grocery, pick up that one first aid kit or pick up an extra batteries or pick up, you know, an extra pair of reading glasses, or another pair of socks. That, you know, all of those things that are on that that list, Start small, have somewhere where you can put that, a rubber made container or some kind of waterproof container, And that's the place where you're prepared in the stuff goes. And and with that one extra thing a week or 1 or 2 things in the week, you are more exponentially prepared every day.
Carol Ventresca [:You you know, it's it this is something that should have hit me a long time ago. When I was in college, I was in a a dorm fire. And, and I don't remember the Red Cross being there, but it it could've been. And I just you know, who knows? But, luckily, it was during the day because the fire department guys told us that if it had been at night, they would have been dragging bodies out, which was really not what we wanted to hear. But, so I've been through that. When I first moved to Delaware County, with all of the people moving up there, they had not really created a good infrastructure on electricity. I can't even tell you how many times I lost electricity and lost everything in my fridge and freezer several times before they finally built that infrastructure. So, you know, it it's there it doesn't have to be a huge disaster.
Cory Paul [:Right.
Carol Ventresca [:But if you're without, electricity, like we were in the derecho for 5 Way, you know, what are you gonna do? Luckily, we could get gas in our Carol, and we could keep our cars outside the garage because there was no floating across Delaware County, and saw how close it was.
Cory Paul [:Right. And it's a wake up call.
Carol Ventresca [:It is. It really is. It really is. And, you know, I I'm, I always think I'm gonna be fairly level headed in an emergency. So far, not too bad. But it was watching that news coverage that sort of threw me. I have everything in place. I got it all packed in my basement.
Carol Ventresca [:I have to remember in a couple Carol years to update stuff because it's gonna be real stale by then. What I've really focused on things like hurricane or, tornadoes and loss of electricity. What's different if because, well, if my house burns down, my kit's gone. What is different what do I need to do differently for a fire, for floods? There are other disasters that we need to be prepared for.
Cory Paul [:You know, so basically, I think you start basic and you start for really anything that could disrupt your daily life. So, most disasters of course are a little different and in maybe how you're warned about them or how quickly they, that that there is a warning. The river's gauge rising for a couple weeks and then cresting is a lot different than tornado in the middle middle of the night. Right? But your needs for, sustaining life and kind of that normalcy, are the same nearly. Right? The way I think about it is stay or go.
Brett Johnson [:Mhmm.
Cory Paul [:Are you gonna have to leave your place of residence, or are you gonna be are you gonna have to stay?
Carol Ventresca [:Right.
Cory Paul [:Right? There are times where, it's a shelter in place model. Do not leave. Right? And then there are other times where you must evacuate. Mhmm. Right? And then there's all kinds of those, other, you know, phases in between. And so when you think about a preparedness kit, try to make it mobile or
Carol Ventresca [:Exactly. That's what I loved about what the Red Cross had. They you know, you have a lot of different preparedness kits. But it dawned on me, I need to have one that I can use there or take with me pretty easily. And I'm it's just me. So it has to be something I can carry.
Cory Paul [:Mhmm. Yeah. And I know people that may keep a smaller kit in their car or, you know, a larger kit at home. Those kind of things. So they at least are covered if they do get that evacuation order and have to leave immediately. But, you know, think a little deeper. Are you on any medications that, you might not be able to go and grab out of your medicine cabinet up on the second floor, when you have a couple minutes to leave? Do you have important documents that are laminated and waterproof and in your kit ready to go? I I think a lot of people, don't think about their pets as far as what's in their emergency kit and the needs of their pets. So, when I talked about 1 gallon per person per gay per day of water, it's also that includes your Brett.
Cory Paul [:Mhmm. Same with food. Same with comfort items. I was in the basement for, about 30:30 minutes, Carol weeks ago after the last kind of, spread of storms. And, with a a 2 year old and a 5 year old, and my wife and my dog. And we were all sitting in this basement kinda twiddling our thumbs, looking at each other. Mhmm. And that we didn't have any comfort items for the kids.
Cory Paul [:That was that was something I've been doing this for 13 years and I hadn't thought of that. I've only had kids for 5. Right? But but, that was one of those things where, I can add to my kits after thinking about after having that experience. So crayons and coloring books, a couple stuffies, you know, things that the kids could play with while me and mom were watching the news. Right. And battening down the hatches and, you know, those kind of things.
Carol Ventresca [:I have a plain deck playing cards deck of playing cards.
Brett Johnson [:Oh, I thought you're gonna Way a plain ticket. No. No. No. No. I gotcha. No. No.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. No.
Carol Ventresca [:I because it on one of the lists, I was looking through many of them, but one of the lists said comfort things. And it was real it's really talking about, items for the kids. But, one of the things it suggested was a deck of playing Carol. And I go, well, I got lots of those. So I threw one of those in. Sure. So So who knows? Yeah.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely. Well You know, again, if you're sheltered in place for several days, power's off, you're gonna need to keep
Carol Ventresca [:Can't play solitaire on your phone, but you can play solitaire with
Cory Paul [:guards. Right.
Carol Ventresca [:There you go.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Well, one major utility we're gonna lose in a disaster is communications. I was thinking about this too. It's like, we get away and not that landlines survive disasters, They probably more than likely would than cell phone. It just, you know, my point being we're getting away from landline. That was one. When we finally cut the cord on landline, that was one thing in my mind going, what if?
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Brett Johnson [:What if? It's like, no. Not because the phone company almost forces your hand to wanna cut it because they make it so expensive anymore comparatively. Again, that's off topic, but it's it's that you're gonna lose it. We're not gonna have those communications. So Way need not only know our loved ones are okay, but we need to hear from local government on their plans for cleanup if you know, hopefully, a broadcast will have it or action in case of Way or when to expect the electricity to come back on. What do you suggest we do and how do we prepare not only if we are in an emergency, but also if a loved one is in a disaster but we and we're not in the same location, you know, and Way now are much more mobile. So your spouse could be in a different location at that point in time, or the kids are a different place. How will how do we navigate that?
Cory Paul [:Right. Yeah. Very good. So, we talked about getting a kit. Right? That's kind of the number one thing. I think that the preparedness kit really gets you again in that mindset of what you will need if x were to occur. And again, there's plenty of lists. There's plenty of things to think about.
Cory Paul [:You can always add to it, etcetera. The next step would be making a plan. And that is what if I'm separated from my family at work and something happens, what what do we do? The cell phone towers are down. It's hard to, you you know, maybe get out of the city or those kind of things. What do we do? Where do we go? And that starts with a conversation at home, well before the disaster. And it really is this is might be a little scary to talk about, but we have to talk about it. So it's not so make the plan of okay. If we are separated and a disaster occurs, where's our meeting place a little bit away? Right? Where are those 2 or 3 meeting places in the 20 mile radius, 50 mile radius, where we know that you're gonna be if I can't reach you.
Cory Paul [:And it's it's grandma and grandpa's house. Mhmm. Right? And it's a little bit but it's a little out of the way. You could imagine, most of the disasters that we would see here in Central Ohio, maybe not hitting both places at the same time. Right? So, that is our that is our space. So making that plan about where we would go and what we would do if we were separated, I think, is very important. Knowing your kids' school's emergency plans, knowing your work's plans, h a a lot of these entities have their own plans about how they contact you or where they may go if they need to shelter, all of those kind of things. A lot of that is already written.
Cory Paul [:And And
Carol Ventresca [:if it's not you asking them about, it could help them do
Cory Paul [:that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Right? So so those pieces, I think, are very important. And then, so we talked, get a kit, make a plan, and then be informed. You talked about communication lines down. I know a lot of folks that get their news from their phone. Right? The phone isn't as waterproof as they said it is.
Cory Paul [:It's or the battery Way die, communication cell towers are down, that thing, it doesn't isn't as useful as as it could be. Right? So how do you how else do you get information? So whether it's the weather Studios, how else do your local, emergency managers, your sheriff's departments, your fire departments. How else do they share information when something's happening? I know a lot of folks use social media, but then there are other ways. There are other ways of getting some of that information.
Carol Ventresca [:I have a crank radio now.
Cory Paul [:Right. We've had
Carol Ventresca [:one we've had one for a long time. In my in my in my kit. Yeah. Anybody who wants to see my kit can come on over to my cousin to see what
Cory Paul [:They're pretty cool.
Brett Johnson [:It didn't take a whole lot of cranking, and it's it's on for a bit. But they're they're pretty neat. Yeah. They are.
Cory Paul [:So it's not ideal. Right? It's that's that's Yeah. But it's it's the best thing that you can come up with, in that time, I think, is really, really very important.
Carol Ventresca [:You know you know, I think one of the things that I have really learned in doing the podcast, it it doesn't matter the topic, financial planning, Way whatever it is we're talking about, the key issue is to prepare yourself. Right. And don't wait for the disaster day to hit and then try to backtrack and do it because you're not gonna be as successful. Right.
Cory Paul [:Well and you said it for you said it before is is, that emergency will occur and you'd like to think that you would remain calm, but you'd never been through it before. Right. You don't know how you're gonna react.
Carol Ventresca [:And and if you have thought about it and prepared, you may still be a little crazy through the process. But you're gonna feel a lot better knowing that you at least have some semblance of what you need, the materials you need, and a plan.
Cory Paul [:Right. Yeah. You can save your time. You save yourself some time running around your house trying to get get clothes together or get your medications or get other things that you might need. If that's all there, then you could save that time by making some calls, to family or friends or, helping out a neighbor. I mean, the more prepared you are, the more prepared your community can be.
Carol Ventresca [:So, at the same time that I was, it was this was all hitting me with the tornado coming through my neighborhood, I also am a member of the advisory council for the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. And really since the pandemic, this whole emergency preparedness for older adults has become a huge issue. So it just by chance happened that I was at a meeting there and I missed your presentation, but they got me in contact with you so that we could really talk about this. The Red Cross does a lot of different stuff. It's not just the emergency preparedness. We talked about the local blood drives and working with veterans, but a little bit more about the seniors. You do smoke detectors for seniors? And, there are other some the other services that your team provides.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely. So we do install free smoke alarms, and we'll do, like a home fire safety check, actually. So you can give us a Carol. We'll get the number to you. Give us a call. You make an appointment. We have volunteers that will, make an appointment with you. Come on out to your residence.
Cory Paul [:We will check what smoke alarms you already have in your home, test them, see if they're appropriate. If they're not, we will replace them with brand new smoke alarms. We'll also sit with you at the dinner table or where comfortable and talk about, your fire escape plan. What do you do when those smoke alarms do go off? Mhmm. Right? You need to have, 2 modes of exit, out of every room that you have. And, yeah, you should have a meeting place, you know, outside of the, that maybe a neighbor's house or your mailbox or that old oak tree. Right? That's where everybody meets, talking about who gets the dog and who gets the cat and and, you know, are there assignments for folks?
Carol Ventresca [:It just threw a ladder out the window in the second floor.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely. Yes. So all of those things we do we we talk about during the visit. Though those things are really very important. I'll tell you, keeping an eye on what you fry is a huge is a huge point. If anybody's listening, you know, and looking for, like, really specific kinda tips, that's one I would say is don't leave your food unattended while you're cooking it. Mhmm. We see a lot of of unattended cooking fires.
Cory Paul [:And that that is, you know, the the you're cooking and the and the phone will ring or the doorbell ring and you walk Way, and then that's when things get a little out of hand. So so absolutely, smoke alarms and and that, that home visit are very, very important.
Carol Ventresca [:So the one thing that I haven't gotten yet for my emergency pack is a fire extinguisher. The Red Cross has a whole bunch of them, that were, you know, they suggest does it really matter if it's a smaller one or a bigger one? I keep thinking the bigger one's gonna be too heavy to carry.
Cory Paul [:Well, that's a good point. I mean, I think that that's something to think about as far as the size of of the, the extinguisher themselves and if you can bring it up to where you need to, like, stove level kind
Carol Ventresca [:of Especially for for older adults.
Cory Paul [:I love that. I think that that's a really good insight to think about that that size because you could really get a big honk in one and then not be able to even even reach it.
Carol Ventresca [:That could be pretty good.
Cory Paul [:I would say, you know, a very basic, smaller smaller piece. Again, if you're watching the the the cooking as you're cooking, you can really hit it sooner rather than later. Right? And so those small those small, extinguishers do really great work. And they they actually have more, more infam in them than you would expect. Right? Even those smaller ones, have a lot of, firefighting power.
Carol Ventresca [:Okay. Good. Now you've given given me that seal of approval. I can even, I mean, even if you get 2 of them, there's because they're smaller. That that it was it was interesting. I was looking at the ratings on those.
Brett Johnson [:Mhmm.
Carol Ventresca [:And there is some sort of a national rating that it has to be a certain size to become, like, the most approved and and they're big. And so and this and and it said in the descriptor, the smaller ones are fine. It's just smaller. That's why it doesn't hit that level of approval because of its size. But other than that, it's perfect. Interesting.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Carol Ventresca [:I there you go. I gave you some new info.
Cory Paul [:I would say what if it works, you know, I'd be and, make sure it's it's it's tested and it and it's, in the green zone on the, you know, on the, on the gauge. And make sure I think that being able to lift it or practice with you know, that is it could be a very important point.
Carol Ventresca [:Mhmm.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. So, we talked earlier about the CPR and the AED training and devices and such. But but, we didn't really talk about giving an overview and also, talking about how to register and and to train for those services. We we talked about, lightly that, you know, the that's what we think about with the Red Cross and such. So if an organization or individual, and maybe it's a different sign up situation, wanna go through these trainings. How how do they go about doing it?
Cory Paul [:Right. So yes. So the best way to get a hold of us, for taking a class, or if you need help is to call us at 1800 Red Cross. You can also sign up for a blood drive there. So 1800 Red Cross is a great first kinda step to, take a CPR course, to, to sign up for a blood drive, to find a shelter in your area if there was a an emergency. That's a great first step. To sign up for a CPR, AED course, or any of our training services, courses, you can also visit redcross.org/takeaclass, or again, 1800 Brett Cross. Those are that that would be the my first advice.
Cory Paul [:And if you're a a local organization and you'd like to provide CPR to many people, again, give us a call there. If you're an individual looking up to sign up for a community class, that's the first step. And then we'll route you in the to where, where would be most appropriate.
Carol Ventresca [:You know, I think that would just be an incredible benefit for an employer to provide their staff. You know, sometimes the employers might be looking to like, what can I do to help my my folks in professional development? But this is just something because they can use it not only at work but at home, too.
Cory Paul [:Well, just think about how much time we we spend at work.
Carol Ventresca [:Right? Right.
Cory Paul [:Right?
Brett Johnson [:Oh, yeah.
Cory Paul [:And so even that, statistically, you could you you're spending half your life at work. Right? So, I love Looking, that when I were walk into a building, I know where the AED is most of the time, but I also love knowing that folks are trained or or a little bit more prepared. Walking into the Red Cross is, like, okay. Yeah. I'm good. Like, I can you know, this is gonna be okay. Whatever happens to me, I'm gonna be fine.
Brett Johnson [:Locked on with my eyes closed. I know where they are. Exactly.
Cory Paul [:I'm gonna be fine.
Carol Ventresca [:Yeah. I have a lot of friends who are teachers, and so the teachers go through CPR training and now they do the AED training. But it I can remember growing up. There used to be a lot of CPR training in in businesses. I don't think they they do that as often now, but what a great opportunity that
Cory Paul [:Yeah. So the certifications are good for 2 years. And so some organizations, maybe larger organizations, do maybe half their staff 1 year and half their staff the 2nd year and then continue to rotate. But again, the more people who have the training, Our part of that kind of emergency services network, are part of, maybe they're not the ones doing compressions, but they're the ones finding the AED. Or maybe they're not the ones doing those two things, but they're the ones calling 911. And so you have this kind of, you know, teamwork based, life saving model that I think is really, really crucial, really important.
Carol Ventresca [:Is there a cost to, individuals or employers or organizations?
Cory Paul [:There is. There are, there's a slide and scale of different costs. There are many different ways to take these classes. So there are hybrid models where you could take, some of the classroom instruction, actually online, learn first aid, learn the tenants of CPR, 1st aid, AED. And then you would go to a location and do pretty much a test out. A couple hours worth of test out. Way? You're doing the you're doing the compressions correctly, at the right depth, at the right rate. Great.
Cory Paul [:So we'll sign you off. There's other kind of all Way, full fledged classes. There are different classes for different sectors. So, whether you're, yeah, absolutely. So so there there is a there is a cost involved to most of the classes. We do offer classes for free depending on the the time of the year. The Red Cross also offers a hands only CPR class for free. So if you're part of an organization that may not be able to afford the full class or has a small group of folks that just want to have the basics, I'll come to your organization and teach you how to do hands only CPR, which is just compressions, for free, in about a half an hour.
Carol Ventresca [:So it used to be Stayin' Alive, the song Stayin' Alive that you sang while you were doing the compressions. I heard it got it was changed.
Cory Paul [:Well, that's you know, staying alive hasn't changed in their beats per minute. So it's still
Brett Johnson [:There you go.
Cory Paul [:It's still a good one. It's still what what most people mention when we take the class. I'll tell you one because I have kids. I will torture you with this. A Way Shark is also at, like, a 110 k. I think it's right at that, anything between a 100a120 beats per minute. And so, yeah, Way Shark is 1, and you're welcome.
Carol Ventresca [:I'm just
Brett Johnson [:gonna say
Carol Ventresca [:I don't mind singing Way staying alive all night long, but Way Shark, no.
Cory Paul [:There there are a lot of songs like that. And so, I typically, when I teach class, I have, like, a playlist of songs that are within that range.
Brett Johnson [:Depending on the audience.
Cory Paul [:Depending on the audience. Right. Exactly. There you go. I'm sure one of your favorite songs are a 110 beats per minute.
Carol Ventresca [:I'm sure. I'm sure.
Brett Johnson [:Well, I
Carol Ventresca [:don't mind. Don't mind staying alive. That one's okay. Cori, we we have already talked a little bit about the older adults, and how they need these services. And as I mentioned, COAAA, the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, and the Age Friendly Initiative have really been active in emergency preparedness for older adults. Give us a little bit more about that relationship.
Cory Paul [:Well, I said it at the top of the podcast that, no one agency can do it alone. And so the partnerships, the kind of relationships that we've, been able to foster with CO Triple Way and Age Friendly and and many others, have been invaluable, for, us to have a platform to talk about these things. Right? Just much like this podcast, but, it gives us that forum to reach people who, are typically more affected by disasters, more affected by heat, more affected by cold weather, more affected by power outages than, you know, a typical community. Right?
Carol Ventresca [:Right.
Cory Paul [:And so, being able to look through the preparedness lens, being able to also look back at past incidents where where folks were uncomfortable or folks were, were hurt or injured, where where people, passed away because of heat related or other disasters, gives us the data, gives us the, information on how best to move forward. And I would say that, CO triple a and Age Friendly are leaders in this space, as far as research, as far as data, as far as best next steps, as as far as, like, really worldwide, best practices in the Age Friendly space.
Carol Ventresca [:We we really have to give a shout out to Katie and her team and Marissa and her team, because they have done a phenomenal job on a lot of issues about older adults that people hadn't really thought of in the past.
Cory Paul [:Absolutely. I learned I learned something new from them every time I meet with them. Absolutely. Wow.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Do you partner with other organizations that support disaster relief and emergency preparedness? I mean, we touched on a few of it. I mean, maybe you wanna give a shout out to a lot of others.
Cory Paul [:Oh my goodness. There's so many. You know, I don't wanna leave anybody out. So I would I would say that, again, we work really very closely with our emergency management agencies. Our fire department partners are amazing. And then, you have grassroots nonprofits, very small community based food banks. You have very large disaster response organizations that mobilize 100 and 100 of people and everything in between. Mhmm.
Cory Paul [:And, the importance of having those relationships with the small, again, grassroots teams and having relationships with those large folks, you just never know what the next disaster is gonna be. You never know what the next issue. It could be the multi year pandemic or it could be that single family house fire. And so, we provide referrals to a lot of organizations after the fact that end up having helping helping with the recovery. There are organizations that Carol muck out your basement and cut down trees. You know. And again, I'm going through the names of these folks, but I don't wanna leave anybody out. So, I would say the list is is, will never be it will will never be complete.
Cory Paul [:Right. Right. Right? And, the goal is really to meet whomever is in need of service, whether that's something the Red Cross can provide or whether that's a community partner. Looking it easier for that person to recover is all of our responsibilities.
Carol Ventresca [:And I think this is a really good opportunity too that if by chance somebody's listening to this podcast and says, oh, well, you know what? We could play a role in this. You're the person for them to call.
Cory Paul [:Please. Yeah. You know, cory.paul@redcross.org. My phone number is 440-320-3479. Give me a Carol. Let me know what you're looking for. Let me know how how you can help, how we can help you. And, whether it's whether I'll be the point person or someone on our team, we have really wonderful staff.
Cory Paul [:We have really wonderful volunteers that do this kind of work on a daily basis.
Carol Ventresca [:And and, listeners, don't forget, we always have resources listed Johnson our show notes on on our website. So we'll have all of this information and we'll have more than enough ways for you to get a hold of Cory and his team. So thank you for that. Our podcasts always really go fast and Way we cover a lot of information in a short amount of time. So thank you for your time and your expertise. I think, if nothing else, we've not only given our audience some bits and pieces of information, some nudges to be prepared ahead of time, and any other words of wisdom you wanna make sure that our folks have heard from you today?
Cory Paul [:Well, I'll tell you, we we are always looking for volunteers. And so, yeah, I think many listeners, today and always, may have a little extra time on their hands or Way, be compelled to serve in the humanitarian mission. Again, whether it's with the Red Cross or many other organizations that do this kind of work, but we would love to have you. And that's the power of of of Our organizations. It's 90% of Our workforce are volunteers and I have the the gift. It's an honor to be able to work with volunteers on a daily basis. They're motivating. They do not have to be here and they choose to be.
Cory Paul [:Right?
Carol Ventresca [:At at when at someone's worst moment
Cory Paul [:Someone's worst moment. Yeah. And they take on so much. Right? To to do that day in and day out or even to do that once or twice a month, to to absorb some of that, is is, is a humanitarian feat in it in it of it in and of itself. And so I just wanna, you know, create space for that, to recognize our volunteers. Both now who are on our roster today, who are responding to disasters locally, and nationally. Taking time and and and being there. And so if you're interested in volunteering, redcross.org/volunteer.
Cory Paul [:Again, give me a call. I'm happy to talk you through it, what what the expectations are. But there are many, many Way, from, again, rolling to that, that house fire or that large disaster, to answering the phone and to dispatching those teams and to maybe doing follow-up calls with those clients who had experienced disasters. There's many, many ways get involved. We
Carol Ventresca [:Way have an incredibly generous population here in Ventresca Ohio. Many people volunteer for many things. For those of you who have not necessarily experienced a volunteer opportunity, there's nothing like it and and it's so fulfilling. So we hope that this brings maybe some new folks to you.
Cory Paul [:Wonderful. We appreciate it.
Brett Johnson [:Yeah. Well, many thanks to our expert guest, Cory Paul, executive director of the Greater Columbus Chapter of the American Red Cross. Thanks for joining us today. Listeners, thank you for joining us. You'll find the contact information and resources that we talked about in this episode in the podcast show notes and on our website at Looking Forward Our Way. And we are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes.
