Red Cross needs volunteers for hurricane season

The American Red Cross is looking for volunteers to serve in Southwest Florida during hurricane season.

“Emergencies don’t stop during a pandemic and neither do our Red Cross volunteers that continue to support families and communities impacted by disasters every day,” said Jill Palmer, executive director for the chapter. “Now more than ever, we need the support of the community to train now as a Red Cross volunteer and answer the call to help if the need arises.”

The Florida Gulf Coast to Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross serves Collier, Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Lee counties.

Full information on volunteer opportunities is available here, but these are a few of the opportunities available:

SHELTER HELP: Volunteers are needed to help staff shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks. Associate and supervisory level opportunities are available.

HEALTH SERVICES SUPPORT: If you are an RN, LPN, LVN, APRN, NP, EMT, paramedic, MD/DO or PA with an active, current and unencumbered license, the Red Cross needs your support. Volunteers are needed in shelters to help assess people’s health. Daily observation and health screening for COVID-19-like illness among shelter residents may also be required. RNs supervise all clinical tasks.

Roles are also available for Certified Nursing Assistants, Certified Home Health Aides, student nurses, and medical students. Volunteers who can provide care as delegated by a licensed nurse in shelters are needed. This could include assisting with activities of daily living, personal assistance services, providing health education and helping to replace medications, durable medical equipment or consumable medical supplies.

PET SUPPORT: When people leave their homes during an emergency, they take their pets with them. The Red Cross is looking for established partner organizations to support the pet sheltering effort.

If you are interested in helping, go to redcross.org/SFLVolunteer or contact your local chapter office. For more information on office locations and phone numbers, visit redcross.org/SouthFlorida.