Floods and droughts are affecting communities across the globe.   5 on Friday – Red Cross response to floods and droughts…

Red Cross brave flood waters in Uganda to deliver supplies. Photo: IRI

The Kenya Red Cross Society has been responding to massive floods across the country.

Floods across Europe | The German Red Cross has been involved in rescue operations in the south-east of the country. IFRC

A woman hangs clothes to dry outside her dwelling in the tent city in Cateel. Alanah Torralba/IFRC

Distributing water made by portable desalination units on Ailuk Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Ana Zarcovic, New Zealand Red Cross.

Guest blog by the Red Cross’ Tommaso Della Longa, in Damascus

“A few days ago, we intervened to rescue some injured people. Everything was going well, when the situation suddenly deteriorated into a firefight. We found ourselves caught up in the middle for three hours, with no protection, except for the emblem.” The person who speaks is a 24-year-old university student, who is also a volunteer with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC). There is no fear in his voice, he is calm, and he shows us the other members of his team on the street. They know they must do what they are doing. “Otherwise, who would do it?”

What is striking is the incredible strength volunteers bear within themselves: they are always smiling

In the operations room there are dozens of volunteers, young men and women ready to step in when the call comes. “Today is calm,” says one, while outside the sharp noise of Katyusha rockets is never far away. In a situation of continuous violence, the noise can become so prevalent, that it almost fades away. Almost. “When a call comes in, we activate the team and the ambulance leaves immediately. In some areas it is difficult to enter, but every time we try to find an agreement with the parties to protect the injured.” Two days earlier, four ambulances rushed to the place where a car bomb had exploded, but here we also take care of those whose suffering is not related to the war.

What is striking is the incredible strength volunteers bear within themselves: they are always smiling. In the room where they wait for the calls, they drink coffee, they play, and they smoke cigarettes or listen to music. “Smiling is part of our job,” they tell us; showing a dignity and inner strength that cannot fail to strike a chord.

Mari with internally displaced Syrians at a sports center thar serves as a shelter for 300 people and a distribution point for food. In Photo: Mari A. Mørtvedt/ Red Cross

Before leaving to visit a SARC clinic, they invite us to come back in the afternoon: “At 6pm there will be a commemoration of the volunteers who lost their lives, and we would be happy to have [your] participation.”

In 2013, there are still places where relief workers are not respected by combatants and here in Syria many volunteers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict, in violation of the Geneva Conventions. There are many, it seems, who do not know – or choose to ignore – that SARC, following the Fundamental Principle of neutrality, work to protect all those who are affected by the conflict, regardless of the uniform they wear or the ideology they embrace.

In the afternoon we manage to get back to the headquarters. We find dozens of youngsters who are preparing the ceremony: candles, a banner, and photos of some of the volunteers who were killed. We go down to the ambulance parking lot. The vehicles are in motion with the lights on. The head of the emergency service makes a speech; the silence is full of intense emotions. Those faces that just hours before had appeared smiling and determined, now become darker. Someone starts to cry, others make a knot around those who are feeling sick and hold them tight just like any big family.

The ceremony lasts less than an hour, the sun is going down, the volunteers have to change shifts and those who have finished want to hurry and get back to their own families, before Damascus turns back into a ghost town, with the thunder of artillery that keeps it awake.

“Among them there is brotherhood, complicity, friendship. Now they are crying, but when they are out there, in the midst of gunfire or bombing, there is no excitement or fatigue. They know that bringing relief is their priority,” says one of the volunteers.

We have no hesitation in believing it.

In addition to appeals for humanitarian aid, however, it is important to return to talk about the safety of healthcare staff in emergencies. The Red Cross is carrying out a campaign called ‘Health care in danger’ and right now it is more vital than ever in every country and every context. Because the number of volunteers from SARC who lost their lives must not increase. Because protecting volunteers in Syria and in the world means protecting all of us. Because those who paid with their lives for their commitment to defending the life of the most vulnerable should be a spur to change and should never be forgotten.

With the successful launch this week of the Women and War Photography Exhibition in Dublin 2, we wanted to bring you some of our favourite Red Cross Exhibitions that are happening right now.  Here’s o 5 on Friday – Red Cross Exhibitions…

Watch video | Geneva | Red Cross museum’s ‘message of hope’ exhibition

Singapore | President Tony Tan (right) looks at handicraft made by the disabled from the Red Cross Home For The Disabled

UK | RED CROSS ILLUSTRATED: PHOTOS AND VIDEO OF LIVE DRAWING IN BRISTOL

Norway | “The Red Cross support for children in Kristiansund during the Second World War”

Dublin | Women and War Photography Exhibition 2013

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

Meet Harry (8) and his little sister Isabelle. They have a special bond as Harry saved Isabelle’s life…click to read story

Read about how an Ennis woman saves child from choking on bottle teat…

Meet Jemma, a Fermoy schoolgirl and a life saver…

Meet Tim from the Irish Red Cross Lough Corrib Rescue team and read about how the team found James O’Brien in the nick of time…

Meet the Irish Red Cross Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue team and read about their dramatic rescue of a woman trapped in a disused mine.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie/get-involved or call 01 642 4600.

“It was a very urgent rescue and time was of the essence,”

On May 5^th, a woman in her 50’s was out hiking with friends on Sligo’s iconic Ben Bulben when she fell into a disused mine shaft and plunged 10 meters into waist high icy water.  She was unharmed but trapped and unable to swim.  She clung on to the side of the mine shaft whilst her friends called 999 for help.

After receiving the emergency call, Irish Red Cross’ Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue team members quickly scrambled and headed to the scene.  With the assistance of two local farmers using quads, team personnel and gear were taken up the steep and precarious track high above the Annacoona cliffs.

Due to the urgency of the call additional members of the team were airlifted by the Coastguard helicopter, “It was a very urgent rescue and time was of the essence“, said Mountain Rescue team leader Conal Sexton.

On arrival at the mines, the team ascertained that the woman had now been temporarily secured on a ledge by another member of the walking group who had managed to climb down into the shaft. The Mountain Rescue team secured the area, and three members set up a rope belay system, quickly reaching the walkers in the mine shaft.

Using a harness the team the hauled the woman to the surface where she was further medically examined, and found to be uninjured, but suffering from hypothermia. The casualty was immediately transferred to Sligo General Hospital by helicopter.

The Irish Red Cross Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue team is entirely staffed by volunteers

The Irish Red Cross Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue team is entirely volunteer staffed, providing a professional standard of mountain rescue to across Sligo and Leitrim.  The volunteers are specially trained and on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie/get-involved or call 01 642 4600.

Harry and Isabelle

Waterford school boy Harry is, in most respects, your average eight year old. He loves nothing more than playing football and playing with his friends. But unlike most 8 year olds, Harry is a lifesaver.

In 2011, Harry’s family welcomed Isabelle, the latest edition to their family and the smallest as she was born premature. Mum, Maria said, “All my children were born premature, so when Isabelle came along at 28 weeks we weren’t surprised and we knew what to expect.”One of the things Maria knew to look out for with premature babies, was a condition known as Apnoea of Prematurity; a condition that causes the baby to stop breathing for 20 seconds or longer. At 8 weeks, Isabelle stopped breathing for the first time.

“Myself, my little girl Molly, who was 3 at the time, and my sister Karen were all watching TV and chatting. Along with Harry who was sat on the sofa holding Isabelle in his arms, he dotes on his little sisters and loves giving them cuddles. All of a sudden Isabelle cried a little, went deathly pale and then stopped breathing.”

“Harry responded immediately”, says Maria, “he gently tapped her foot and called her name. Then, when she didn’t respond, he gave two short breaths into her mouth, with his breaths she took a huge gulp of air and came back.” Since then, Isabelle has stopped breathing several times and miraculously Harry has revived her on each occasion.

Harry’s quick thinking when Isabelle stopped breathing followed his first heroic action which took place when Maria was pregnant with Isabelle. During her pregnancy, Maria’s blood pressure dropped causing her to faint. When she came round Harry had her legs up on a kitchen chair and was calling for assistance. Maria says that having Harry around is reassuring for her, “it’s like having an extra pair of eyes and he’s very calm in an emergency, I’m very proud of him but he always says that it’s no big deal!”

Harry learnt first aid as a member of Waterford’s Irish Red Cross T-Bears, part of the charity’s Youth section, which he joined when he was just 5 years old. The T-Bears, or Teddy Bears as they are also known, offer an opportunity for 5 – 10 year olds to learn new skills like first aid, socialise with other children their age and also to take part in the Irish Red Cross Options programme. Options activities in the Waterford T-Bears have to date included a clean up in the local park, an environmental talk and training with the Waterford football team.

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie/get-involved or call 01 642 4600.

Learn how to treat a choking child at www.redcross.ie
Image ©Istock

Ennis woman Shirley Benson has been a volunteer with the Irish Red Cross for many years.  As an experienced instructor, Shirley regularly trains members of the public in first aid.  At a day out with her family Shirley found out how much of a difference that training can make.

At a local fun day, Shirley was stood watching the bumper cars along with other parents who had brought their children for a day out.  It was whilst she was waving to the children on one of the rides that Shirley happened to notice a little girl in a stroller who, she thought was waving at her. Initially Shirley waved back but then realised that something was wrong.

Her first aid training kicked in and Shirley quickly made known as a first aider with the Irish Red Cross.   It was only when Shirley approached her that the parent also realised that her young daughter was choking. The little girl’s face had turned purple and her lips had begun to turn blue.

Shirley unstrapped the child, turned her upside down, gave five back blows and, on the last blow, the object obstructing her breathing came out.  The little girl began to breathe again.

Shirley says, “When I looked at what had popped out of the little girl’s throat I saw that she had chewed off the rubber teat off her drink bottle.  She had fallen asleep with it in her mouth and it got caught in her airway”.  Thanks to Shirley’s quick thinking the little girl made a quick recovery.

Irish Red Cross volunteers are involved in a range of community activities; including Youth Development, first aid training course, therapeutic care, search and rescue and emergency response.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie/get-involved or call 01 642 4600.

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

Fermoy schoolgirl Jemma Dearden is, in most respects, your average sixteen year old. But unlike most sixteen year olds, Jemma is a lifesaver.

In the early hours of the morning, Jemma and her mother Julie were woken by shouts for help from the street below their bedroom windows. The teenager’s first aid training from the Irish Red Cross instinctively kicked in as she grabbed her first aid kit an ran down the stairs.

Jemma Dearden, (17) of Fermoy pictured with her mother Julie, at the spot where the incident took place. Photo: Basil O’Sullivan,The Corkman

Jemma remembers what happened that night:

I was woken by my mum telling me there man unconscious downstairs, and I was up. I went straight for my first aid kit and a jacket.

It’s funny looking back on it, I didn’t even think about the fact I was in my pyjamas, I just wanted to help. My mother explained she had called the emergency services and requested the Gardaí – she had not been down to the unconscious man as she was unsure of how safe the scene was.

We went downstairs together.

After assessing the situation and with my gloves on, I made my way over to the patient. His friends were supporting his legs and had his body across mum’s car bonnet; they were shaking him and shouting his name. It was clear, he was unconscious.

I introduced myself and asked for feedback on what had happened to the patient before he had gone unconscious. The three men were in Fermoy for the weekend. They were out for the evening and had been drinking. The patient had got into a brawl with another man and he had taken a blow to face.
There were no obvious signs of severe bleeding. The man’s airway was clear; His breathing was difficult and noisy, with poor circulation to his clenched hands. His hands were stiff and locked, making it impossible for me to find his radial pulse.

When looking for his carotid artery to find a pulse in his neck I noticed what looked like severe perspiration. I asked if the man had been exposed to water. He had been. In an attempt to rouse their friend, his friends had poured a bucket of water over his head. It was then that I noticed blood around the patient’s nostrils as a result of the brawl.

Straight away I asked for help lowering the patient to the ground. From there I placed him in the recovery position. I did so to prevent swallowing of blood, like any nose bleeds and so the man could vomit without struggling for breath.

I re-accessed his airway, his breathing became regular, his circulation was still very poor and he was becoming very pale. I asked my mother to fetch a blanket from upstairs to insulate him. I began to check his vital signs. He was still un-responsive, breathing was rapid and his pulse was very weak and irregular.

The Gardaí arrived and we covered him with the blanket. The man’s eyes opened suddenly and he began to cough violently as is choking for air. He began to vomit blood so I propped him up and reassured him but within seconds he was unconscious again.

I stayed and monitored the man’s vitals. His breathing and pulse became regular and his body temperature began to rise by the time the paramedics arrived.

I got to do my first hand-over to the paramedics. They took over while I gave the Gardaí details of the situation. The patient’s friends were very thankful and did the right thing by looking for help and requesting an ambulance.

It was weird and wonderful using skills I had picked up from Red Cross training and then putting them to the test. Like anyone who has done first aid will know that treatment will only extend life, rather than definitely save it. I was happy to help in providing care for the man.

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

Irish Red Cross volunteers are involved in a range of community activities; including Youth Development, first aid training courses, therapeutic care, search and rescue and emergency response.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie or call 01 642 4600

On a clear and mild day, James O’Brien took a boat out to go fishing on Lough Corrib. When, 75 year old, James failed to return home by dark his wife called the Gardai concerned he may have got into difficulty on the lake.

Do more than you thought possible, volunteer today

The Gardai alerted the Coast Guard who immediately contacted the Irish Red Cross to ask their lifeboat crew to join the search for James. The volunteer lifeboat crew quickly joined the rescue operations, searching islands on the lake where James had planned to go fishing. The search produced no results. Concerns for James’ safety grew as temperatures fell below zero and the evening turned out to be one of the coldest nights of the year.

Enlisting the assistance of the Coast Guard helicopter, the Irish Red Cross lifeboat crew widened their search to other islands. But there was still no sign of James or his boat.

The helicopter’s heat-seeking device detected a heat signature, the lifeboat crew received the coordinates and raced to the area to investigate.

After a close range search James was found. He was well but very disorientated and hypothermic.
Doctors estimated that he would only have survived for another 45 minutes if he had not been found.

Following his ordeal, James said, “I was out fishing on Lough Corrib when my boats engine cut out. The sky turned from blue, to grey, to black and the weather got colder and colder. I tried to row but my hands froze as the temperature plummeted. All I could see around me was water. I felt alone and frightened. As the hours passed, I began to give up hope. Then I saw a light in the distance and heard a boat coming towards me.  I’ve never felt so relieved.”

May 13th – 19th is National Volunteer Week 2013, to celebrate the Irish Red Cross is sharing real life experiences from volunteers around the country and encouraging more people to get involved with their local Red Cross.

Irish Red Cross volunteers are involved in a range of community activities; including Youth Development, first aid training courses, therapeutic care, search and rescue and emergency response.

For more information about how you can get involved with the Irish Red Cross in your community, see www.redcross.ie or call 01 642 4600

Each year on May 8th the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement (RCRC) celebrate all that the Red Cross Red Crescent stands for; another hand extended, another kindness offered, a further shelter given, even another live saved. All these things and many more come under the umbrella of humanitarian action, but to the volunteers and workers of the RCRC it’s another day in the service of the world’s largest humanitarian network.

Another hand extended © American Red Cross

Another would cleaned and healed © Philippine Red Cross

Another person found © Japanese red Cross

Another family reunited

Sometime simple kindness is all that’s needed © Anthony Upton