NIOBRARA COUNTY - When a disaster strikes there are services in place such as police, fire, EMS and so many more, helping people through their needs, one such vital service is the American Red Cross of Wyoming.

The American Red Cross of Wyoming serves more than 568,000 people throughout the state of Wyoming covering 97,800 square miles.

The American National Red Cross (ANRC) has a rich history, originating in Geneva, Switzerland, then later ANRC was then invited to become a branch of the Red Cross in the 1880’s. It was Clara Barton, a teacher and nurse during the civil war, who was introduced to the Red Cross during her travels to Europe. Founder of the Red Cross in Switzerland, Dr. Appia asked Barton to become the official representative for the American branch of the Red Cross.

The Red Cross originally was a humanitarian aid to the people and wounded of soldiers of wars, although still vital in helping those in need as a result of war, the American National Red Cross has become vital for those who are in need with the aftermath of tragedies.

During the Niobrara County Local Emergency Committee (LEPC) Robby Gallob of the American Red Cross of Wyoming Community Disaster Manager visited with everyone concerning meeting the needs of the community in Niobrara County and Wyoming during disasters.

According to Gallob there is a need for volunteers within Wyoming to help during disasters. Currently there are over 90 volunteers, however Wyoming is a large chunk of land and sometime in covering the distances can be time consuming, however Gallob assures their volunteers will be on the road and be there to give much needed relief. Unfortunately, there are no volunteers from Niobrara County Gallob told the Herald.

According to American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Public Affairs Manager John Seward volunteers have been giving humanitarian aid and comfort to those in need for a very long time.

“The Red Cross spread across the country and offers a plethora of services,” Seward said. “We are the Nation’s oldest and largest volunteer services and we got our American charter in the 1900’s. So, we respond to disasters, big and small, every day and all day long. We’re responding to a new disaster, majority of which is home fires, fires are a lot of our time.”

Seward told the Herald the American Red Cross responds to a disaster every seven minutes across the country.

“The Red Cross responds to wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and transportation emergencies,” Seward said. “We would respond to automobile and airplane crashes, too. We support the FFA (Federal Aviation Administration) in response to those incidents.”

According to Seward the American Red Cross is the leading agency for mass care.

“We take care of people after the bad things happen,” Seward said. “We always try to bring hope when there is hopelessness.”

Among other tragic events the Red Cross responds to mass incidents when it involves things such as gun violence or bombings.

“We work with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and help as part of their mass casualty incidents,” Seward said. “After the mass casualty incidents most of the time, we’ll respond next with local law enforcement. We give care and compassion to the victims.”

Seward explained the Red Cross also spends a large amount of time prepping for disaster through a variety of disaster preparedness education in the United States. Many classes can be taken online through their website and when needed volunteers will have a classroom setting, teaching things such as first aid.

There are training services division of the American Red Cross with their mission to educate as many members of the national community in lifesaving procedures. Trainings and certifications are CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation), how to use AED (Automated External Defibrillator), First Aid, BLS (Basic Life Support), Babysitting, Caregiving, Lifeguarding Water Safety and so much more.

“We offer a course to the volunteers to be Red Cross ready when we have to evacuate people,” Seward said. “We make a plan to evacuate and then have a plan to cover after an evacuation. That is on the disaster side of things.”

According to the Geneva Convention of 1949 additional protocols were implemented to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Victims include all persons, from victims who are war wounded, prisoners, refugees, civilians and other non-combatants.

“But up there in Wyoming the other services we have, we offer our services to the Armed Services,” Seward said. “We work to connect and support military spouses, while their family members are deployed. Up in Wyoming we work to connect families that are displaced by war and other disasters. So, there is a lot of work that goes into connecting families that are separated and with border crossings and asylum seeking people, too.”

The Red Cross is the first organization to offer certification in CPR courses and First Aid courses. “We offer a lot of different versions of our trainings. We have some hybrid learning that we do some prework training online,” Seward said. “And then we have other classes we offer in person. We have a hands only CPR where we will go into schools and have classes for students.”

A person who is suffering from cardiac arrests who receives CPR has an 80% increased chance of survival, and if someone doesn’t have bystander CPR only has a 10% chance of survival.  

“We teach anybody and everybody CPR,” Seward said. “We’ve worked hard with everybody there in Wyoming. Even if you need to call 911the dispatchers are trained in how to give someone CPR instructions over the phone. It is something that we have been able to do with first responders and dispatchers in Wyoming.”

According to Seward the Red Cross has been evolving and improving through research which has been done by scientists and doctors to be more efficient in life saving skills. Heart disease and heart attacks are a leading cause of death in the United States and the Red Cross is very serious about improving lifesaving skills.

For the schools it a by request service and the Red Cross will schedule a time with their teams to help educate students. The Red Cross certify instructors and they will teach classes in hospitals and clinics across the country.

“What we also maintain a list of classes for people to become certified through our website,” Seward said.

Seward explained he understood what it is like to live in a rural community and sometimes there might be a feeling of disconnectedness, however when the volunteers in Wyoming are called ,they are always ready to meet the challenges of helping those in need.

“Wyoming is a rural community we have a small but strong community of volunteers that will respond when needed,” Seward told the Herald. “I’ve got to tell you those in Wyoming are some of the finest folks I’ve worked with and when it’s time to step up, they drop everything that they are doing. Our goal is to always be able to respond to a disaster within an hour.”

The focus is and always will be the victims, families and community when the Red Cross responds. Whether if it is clothing, food, medicine or just a calm understanding voice to help those through tragic events, the Red Cross is there to help.

“After the initial first response what we do is really focus on recovery for the victims,” Seward said.  “We’re not putting the fires out; we’re focused on after the disasters have struck we are there to help build and recover.”

During last year’s fires to Niobrara County’s neighbors the Red Cross responded to the disaster to give relief and care for those in need. The Red Cross had also come and helped the Zerbe family when they lost their home to a fire.

The Red Cross in Wyoming can always use volunteers. If anyone would like to volunteer they are encouraged to go to the Red Cross website, www.redcross.org/volunteer. Gallob is more than happy to answer any questions about volunteering in Wyoming. Contact Robby Gallob at (307)696-1899 or email him at Robby.gallob3@redcross.org.