Mid-Illinois Chapter
American Red Cross
2009-2010 Highlights and Accomplishments
Through June 30, 2010

Disaster Rlief
This year in local disaster relief, we responded to 68 local disaster incidents and assisted 253 individuals with close to $35,500 in direct aid (food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and household items).

We also provided mass care canteen services to 553 first responders on incident scenes including the DeWitt County crop duster plane crash, the Sullivan manhunt, the Kaskaskia River search and recovery, the search for a Shelbyville Alzheimer’s patient and the Exelon Nuclear Power Plant drill, along with numerous fires. 

Emergency Planning

We continue to be active in the community’s emergency planning, participating in the Special Needs Assessment Panel, the Joint Information Center Committee, Pandemic Flu Committee, Terrorism Task Force, Local Emergency Planning Committees, and the Macon County Mental Health Board Disaster Council.  We participated in disaster exercises such as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) hazmat drill, the Decatur Airport tabletop drill, and biohazard dispensing operations.   

During the recent swine flu pandemic we participated in key stakeholder meetings and assisted the Joint Information Center in putting together a press release to inform the citizens of Macon County about the flu.  Along with the Macon County Public Health Department we held a joint H1N1 Forum at Richland Community College.

In September we participated in the Macon County Prepares Campaign, along with the United Way, the Macon County Public Health Department, the Medical Reserve Corps, the Macon County EMA, the City of Decatur, MABAS Division 46, Richland Community College, Ameren Illinois Utilities, and ADM.  Our goal was to promote emergency preparedness among the citizens of Macon County and assist them in disaster planning, response, and recovery.  

National Disasters

We sent 16 volunteers on national disaster operations this year ranging from flooding in Georgia, New Jersey and Tennessee, to tornadoes in Oklahoma.  Most recently we sent our Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV), along with chapter volunteers to assist with tornadoes in Streator, Dwight, and Elmwood, IL. 
 
Education

The Chapter is actively involved in providing Community Disaster Education in each of our four counties. This year we educated over 2,044 adults and children in disaster preparedness ranging from how to prepare for severe weather to home fires.  People also learned about the American Red Cross and our role in the community and how they can volunteer and help save lives.


Training Those Who Help

We hosted our fourth annual Illinois Emergency Services Institute at Millikin University in July of 2010 with over 200 Red Cross volunteers and staff from throughout Illinois and seven other states attending 38 disaster training classes over a period of 5 days.  Forty Mid-Illinois Chapter volunteers and staff took a total of over 100 classes at this year’s Institute. 

Support for Troops and Families

We assisted with 87 Service to Armed Forces (SAF) cases this fiscal year. We have 8 volunteers and paid staff members trained and on call to handle SAF cases, and we are one of the few chapters in Illinois to provide 24/7 local coverage for SAF calls.

We educated 39 Army National Guard & Reserve and Naval Reserve military families regarding Red Cross emergency messaging while on deployment.  We participated in the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration event out at Richland Community College in April.  
 
Education

We trained more than 14,000 people this fiscal year.  We currently have over 200 Instructors, and both of these numbers are up dramatically from just a few years ago.
 
We taught Adult CPR/AED in several new school districts this year.  We trained and certified nearly 1800 students and 872 teachers this year throughout our four counties, thanks in large part to a training grant from ADM.  We also taught 3,247 kindergarten through 6th grade students in various Red Cross Health & Safety programs.

In June we conducted our eighth annual free Mass CPR Rally at Richland Community College.  At this year’s rally, we trained 181 students in adult CPR and also trained 32 children in a combined Safety Camp.