Articles Written by Sally Banks

        Jackson County American Red Cross News

Earthquake in Haiti

Quick points from several situation reports we've read so far:

·         Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

·         Haiti was devastated in hurricane season 2008 and is just now showing signs of recovery.

·         This is the worst earthquake in 200 years in the area.

·         The epicenter was 10 to 16 km from the capital and the area is the most populated in the country.

·         Several relief missions (UN, CARE, Save the Children, etc) are active in the country and have been impacted (the UN HQ collapsed with several staff inside).

·         Building collapse is wide spread.

·         Casualty amounts have been placed in the hundreds to thousands.

·         Countries from around the world are readying relief assistance.

·         President Obama has offered both civilian and military assistance.

·         Communications is down across the region, several reports are based off of information gathered before communications failed early on. The UN mission is communicating with satellite phones they were using for their in country activities to communicate.

The American Red Cross is accepting monetary donations to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.  The American Cross honors donor intent.  Donations can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington D.C. 20013, or made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online at www.redcross.org.

The American Red Cross does not anticipate in-kind donations for this international response.  More information on how to respond to offers of in-kind donations can be found by contacting your local Red Cross office.

**For more information use this link for CNN:   http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/01/12/ac.myers.haiti.quake.why.cnn.html

**Photos from timelive.com

Man Carries an injured child out of rubble                                 Port-au-Prince

Lifeguard Information Updated

    There is a Lifeguard class scheduled to start January 27th.  It will be held at the Seymour pool

from approximately 6 to 9  every Wednesday night.  All participants must be 15 by the last

day of the class.  This is a ten week course and does fall on the weeks of spring break.  We do

work around spring break.  For two consecutive weeks we teach the same lesson so if you have

vacation plans you are only required to attend one session, which ever one is not your spring break.

With the exception of the Spring Break attendance, being absent is not acceptable.  If a participant

misses any portion of the class they will not receive their certification and will not be refunded.

If you are interested in becoming a lifeguard please contact our Seymour office at 522-3888.

The Jackson County American Red Cross has certified guards from many local facilities, such as:

Brownstown Pool, Seymour Pool, Camp Pyoca, Maumee Scout Camp, Scott County YMCA, and many more.

American Red Cross Photo Gallery

*If you would like copies of any of these pictures please contact

our Seymour Office 522-3888