Last Thursday, April 15th 2010, the University of Nebraska at Kearney staged a mock disaster drill, complete with "injured, bloody bodies strewn across the parking lot" (Kim Schmidt and Sarah Giboney, "Mock Disaster Explodes Across Campus," Kearney Hub).
Although the "accident" was staged to test the Kearney area's emergency response teams, the event seemed to hint at the upcoming Tri-Cities Blood Drive.
The annual Tri-Cities Blood Drive has taken place for the past five years in the YMCAs of Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings. According to the American Red Cross website, the YMCA teamed up with the Red Cross to hold a blood drive right before "family vacation" season takes hold.
All the activities available during summer break make it easy to forget the horrifying news images of all the disasters that have taken place all over the world, particularly in the past four months.
Disasters don't take summer breaks.
Not all disasters increase the need for blood as the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, China and California in just the first two months of the year, the tsunamis that resulted from them, and the cyclone that ripped up the European coastline on the last day of February.
For example, a volcano in Iceland just erupted two days ago, Friday, 16 April 2010. Although many people equate the Red Cross with blood donation, Red Cross workers and volunteers provide much more than blood in their disaster relief efforts.
"The Icelandic Red Cross is sheltering more than 200 people...[has evacuated] about 700 people...[and] is currently assessing whether everyone in the disaster area still has enough food" (16 April 2010, American Red Cross Website).
However, the effects of disasters don’t simply disappear overnight. Members of the Red Cross from multiple countries have been present in Haiti since just after the earthquakes hit and they continue to help today.
They have already given Haitians temporary shelters, latrines, medical care, vaccinations, and "more than 21,000 units of blood" – and they intend to fund shelter, emergency relief, water and sanitation projects, grants and loans for families, and disaster preparation projects over the next three to five years (12 April 2010, American Red Cross Website).
Midwesterners are just beginning tornado season, hoping for “a mild one.”
People in the Southeast are approaching hurricane season and hoping that all those feisty water funnels stay as far out to sea as possible – they don’t want another Katrina.
Although people generally don’t like to think about deadly events, they cannot escape the fact that disasters happen and the people who are touched by them need help.
If UNK’s mock disaster had been a real disaster, every county in Nebraska would have held a blood drive – and a food drive – and a clothing drive – and at least one fundraiser.
Nebraska may not be touched by every disaster, but Nebraskans can always help those who are. If you can't give blood, give money; if you can't give money, give time.
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