JOHN'S POST

My Red Cross Journey

By: John A. Novotny

10-11-2017

I have been asked from time to time why I volunteer or donate my time, energy and talents to the Red Cross, as well as medical mission trips. For a long time, I really didn’t have the right answer “off the cuff”, and usually struggled through some response.  Of late, I have revisited that response and have something a bit more solid.

First, I have been a very blessed (and lucky) person on many levels. I have a wonderful wife, family and extended family, supportive friends, and good health in general. Lucky, because of the over 6 billion people on the planet, an extremely small percentage (including me) were born in the USA, and enjoy all the benefits that go with that, despite the political rhetoric we are surrounded by. Secondly, I feel some sense of void on occasion that I never did serve my country in the military. Since I can’t change that, I can join organizations like the Red Cross and engage in medical mission trips as some alternative forms of service. Third, the Red Cross is neutral on every front that I can think of, such as politics, religion, gender, etc. They take all comers and serve all comers. Kinda neat I think. Fourth, it’s just the right thing to do.

My Red Cross beginnings…….My first contact with the Red Cross as I recall was during my first job after college in 1977 at the Geneva State Bank, Geneva, NE.   Every time the Red Cross Bloodmobile came to town, it was just assumed that those from the bank that could, would just donate blood.  My first time, I was somewhat of a reluctant 21 year old, who wasn’t so tough anymore when someone was going to stick me with the “big” needle.  Well, I made it through that, and over the course of the next 35 years or so, I gave enough blood to be in the “10-gallon” club. Since about 2011-2012 or so, I have not been able to give blood anymore, even though I want to, and they want my blood.  The reason, is that since Nila and I generally go on international medical mission trips that are in malaria “risk” areas, the Red Cross won’t take my blood for at least a year after I am in one of those areas, and we seem to be going somewhere every year. So, the Red Cross and I are at a stalemate on this specific item.

My second contact……..with Red Cross came in Columbus, NE shortly after 911, when some (unknown-to-me) volunteer asked if I would join their local DAT (Disaster Action Team). I “believe” it was someone from the hospital, but I honestly can’t remember who. That started a series of training and classes to be qualified to serve the Red Cross on a local level, such as responding to house fires, floods, tornadoes, etc. My training allowed me the opportunity to help with a 2006 flood in Schuyler, NE and a severe  2008 hail storm in Hastings, NE and Kenesaw, NE. I also helped with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2006 with my daughter Giana, in Bayou La Batre, LA. I realized that my passion would be more toward national and international humanitarian efforts after that trip. However, due to job time demands, I was unable to make myself available to the Red Cross on short notice for 2-3 weeks per assignment, until now….

My current contact…….with Red Cross is concurrent with the sale of our medical practice to the Columbus Community Hospital. My position as Business Manager has been now ended after 30 years, which allows me time to volunteer with Red Cross for the 2-3 week assignments. So in September of this year, I took the time to refresh my classes needed to be a volunteer, and am once again qualified to serve the Red Cross is areas of Mass Care (feeding, sheltering, distribution, and ERV). ERV stands for Emergency Response Vehicle, and the drivers of those vehicles are in some ways like the “Green Beret” of the Red Cross, as they are very broad trained, and that all important work “Flexible”.

During the end of September, I was scheduled to be deployed to the Virgin Islands for the aftermath of Maria. However, I needed to delay my deployment by one week since I had a prior commitment in Las Vegas to attend a national community college national conference. This, since I am on the board of governors of the Central Community College, based out of Grand Island, NE but with a campus in Columbus, NE.  When I returned from the conference on 10-1-2017 (about 4 hours before the shooting started), I learned that I was then on stand-by as my original position has been filled and I was to wait for the next one to open up. In the meantime, an urgent plea was sent out by Red Cross to prepare for the then developing Hurricane Nate.  So I was deployed on 10-6-2017 to Orlando, FL to help prepare for the worst. By then Nate has killed many people in Nicaragua and other Central America countries. It was thought at the time that Nate would become another Katrina and so “all on board” for this one.  As it turned out, Nate did not develop into what was projected (actually good news overall), but then the logistics problem for the Red Cross was what to do with all the personnel deployed for the contingency.

In my case, being an ERV driver, they gave me some choices. 1), Stay in Florida or go to Houston and help with the efforts there, or, drive an ERV back to one of its home ports, mine being from San Bernardino, CA. (The Virgin Island and Puerto Rico assignments at that time had currently been suspended as the logistics of getting food and help to the correct people in the appropriate ways, was being limited by electrical outages, airport closings, ships standing idle in the bays, etc.) The intent was for me to take the ERV back to its home base, and perhaps get redeployed in Califorina to help with the wild fires there. So I took the option to drive an ERV back to California. ERV’s are staffed with two drivers, and my partner happens to be from Holstein, IA, a retired Tyson Foods manger, and Jack-of-all trades, including being Santa, (and looking like one too. LOL).

Our trek started in Orlando, FL, and will take us to San Bernardino, CA, over 2,200 miles. Our goal on Monday when we found this out, was to leave on Tuesday, and arrive sometime on Friday. We are currently in Las Cruses, NM as I write this, a little over ½ way. I didn’t realize at the time, that I would be going through so much scenery and college football country.  Of course, Orlando is the vacation Mecca of the Southeast.  Following is the list of towns we went through (or will), and just a short quip about some of them:

Orlando, FL – Vacation Mecca

Gainesville, FL – home of U of Florida college football

Tallahassee, FL – home of Florida State college football

Pensacola, FL – home of the Navy’s “Blue Angles” Airforce

Mobile, AL – Old French seaport, Alabama’s only salt water port

Montgomery, AL – Home to the Civil Rights movement, MKL influence, etc. Rosa Parks, Capital of AL

Birmingham, AL – Old Industrial capital of the South

Tuscaloosa, AL – home of the U of Alabama football team

Jackson, MS –State capital

Monroe, LA – home to U of Louisiana football

Dallas, TX – home to the Dallas Cowboys football

Fort Worth, TX – home of TCU football

Midland, TX – home to the Bush’s

El Paso, TX -- home to UTEP football, and you can see Mexico from there, Rio Grande River, no wall J

Tucson, AZ – home to Arizona football

Phoenix, AZ – retirement capital of the country

LA area – home to UCLA and USC football

One thing I noticed from Florida, through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana,………..if I get injured, I don’t have to worry about anything. There are a plethora of attorneys (per their preponderance of roadside advertising) that will tell me exactly how much I hurt, and how much that is worth. And they will take care of everything. What a deal that is. Strangely, once we hit the Texas boarder and for the 800 mile trip across to New Mexico, I didn’t see more than 2 signs advertising that warm fuzzing attorney comfort hug if I got hurt. Apparently, the Texas attorney’s don’t care about me. Sad. LOL.  Then immediately when we entered New Mexico, again there were plenty of attorneys willing to help me again. Thank God for that. J The one sign that Texas does have a plethora of, is “Don’t mess with Texas”. I guess if I do, I’ll just call up an attorney form one of those “other” states.

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When we get to San Bernardino, CA on Friday, we will get our new assignment then. Stay tuned…………………….

* John has reached California by the time of this posting. N