Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke and the sound of a shrieking alarm - your home is on fire! You and your family safely hurry out of the house as the fire department arrives. Standing in the street in your pajamas, you huddle with your family as the tragedy sinks in. Even if the fire was extinguished quickly, your home is probably not inhabitable. Your food, clothing and furniture are damaged by fire, smoke or water. As you begin to ponder your next steps, you are introduced to volunteers who warm you with a blanket and talk to you about food and clothing allowances, temporary lodging and emotional support.

Where did these helpers come from?

The American Red Cross is widely known for preparedness and response to large disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. A lesser-known fact is the Red Cross also provides around-the-clock response services for smaller local disasters that impact individuals and families. A Disaster Action Team or DAT provides these response services.

The Capital Region Chapter of the American Red Cross is headquartered in Sacramento and supports 11 counties in Northern California. Capital Region Chapter Chief Executive Officer, Dawn Lindblom, said, “People are most surprised to hear about the single family house fires that we respond to on a daily basis. Here, at our chapter, we respond to something on average every 21 hours.”

In the Sacramento area, five Disaster Action Teams rotate weekly responsibility for responding to house and apartment fires, local flooding or other events that displace people. Each Sacramento-area DAT consists of 10-12 volunteers: a captain, co-captain and team members. DAT members receive training and are available on-call 24 hours a day; they often respond to events in the middle of the night.

A Red Cross Disaster Action Team is usually notified by first-responders when assistance might be needed. The DAT captain will contact the other team members and meet at the event as soon as possible. Upon arrival, the team members will find the impacted people and assess the level of need. The support options are designed to provide necessary relief for the first 72 hours after the disaster. Based on need, up to three days of lodging may be provided as well as food and clothing vouchers. DAT volunteers will arrange replacement of lost medications and give stuffed animals to young children to provide comfort. Mental health services are also offered for those suffering the anguish of the event.

Elbie Diggs, a warehouse worker in Woodland, learned about the Red Cross years ago when he was eight years old. He was staying at a motel in West Sacramento with his mother and sister when a fire broke out. Red Cross volunteers helped his family after the fire.

On January 4 of this year, Elbie was preparing dinner in his Woodland apartment for himself and his twin six-month-old daughters. He saw flames in the ceiling of his bathroom and immediately carried his girls outside. In a telephone interview Elbie said, “It was extremely terrifying. But the Red Cross was a great support. I really appreciate what they did for me. If it wasn’t for them, we would have really been stuck out in the cold.” Red Cross DAT volunteers arranged temporary lodging, food and clothing allowances for him and his girls. “The Red Cross, they’re volunteers. So they came out, and they didn’t have to do anything they did. I felt blessed. It could have been worse,” he said. A faulty ventilation fan was the cause of the fire that destroyed the building.

Clarksburg resident Kathy Hunn volunteered for the Red Cross immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated many of the southern states of the country. She attended training classes and was deployed to Biloxi, Mississippi for three weeks. After returning home, she volunteered to serve local needs as a DAT member and team captain. Hunn said, “Everybody who gets involved with the Red Cross is there because they want to help people. Almost to a person, you’ll ask them, ‘Why are you here?’ and that’s their response. That’s a real draw for working in the Red Cross.” Hunn continues to serve as a Disaster Action Team member and has expanded her work into other Red Cross services. “I love doing what I’m doing. I love working with the people that I have a chance to work with, from the volunteers all the way up to the paid staff. We have a wonderful group of paid staff,” she said.

Phil Davis is the Director of Emergency Services at the Capital Region Chapter. Davis said, “Volunteers really are the heart and soul of the Red Cross. Nationally, 97% of all Red Cross responders are volunteers. Only 3% are paid staff members. We couldn’t accomplish the mission unless we had the committed and dedicated volunteers that we do. We can’t ever have too many volunteers.” In addition to front-line response services, volunteers often perform very technical and complex jobs, such as computer support, disaster services technology, satellite communications and mental health support.

In addition to the generous gift of time by the volunteers, the Red Cross also depends on donations for financial support. Davis said, “The Red Cross is completely funded through donations and grants. No tax dollars whatsoever come to the Red Cross for services provided. So we do count on corporate donations as well as individual donations to survive.” Davis continued, “Ninety-one cents out of every dollar that is donated ends up assisting clients.” Davis said the remaining 9% is used to cover overhead costs of the organization.

The American Red Cross also provides health and safety education and training, support services to members of the military and their families, and international services.

For anyone considering becoming a volunteer, Hunn advises, “First off, come to the volunteer orientation. That gives you an overview of what’s going on in the Red Cross. There are so many options available…you start taking classes that specialize in what you’d like to do. We’re always looking for more volunteers. There’s always something to do.”

Lindblom added, “We want to make sure that volunteers that come here feel that they’re needed and that they’ve gotten the appropriate training to be able to respond to a disaster, or provide training on how to teach a CPR or First Aid class, or serving military members in the outreach efforts that we do in the community.”

For more information about the Capital Region Chapter of the American Red Cross, call (916) 993-7070 or visit their website.

Photos, video and audio by Ron Nabity.