By: Carl Manning, American Red Cross

As a paramedic, Richard Doornink has the training and skills to save lives. As a Red Cross volunteer, the Cameron resident gets the chance to use his skills to help those in need, something he does because he enjoys doing it.

That’s why right now he’s at the Seven Trees Community Center in San Jose, California, serving at a Red Cross shelter for those driven from their homes by the recent massive flooding.  

“We are the first line of care until the ambulance gets here. We have had to call for an ambulance several times,” Richard said, adding that the shelter averages about 125 residents each night.

Richard is part of the health care team assigned by the Red Cross to the Seven Trees shelter. It’s standard practice for the Red Cross to have health care professionals on site or on call at each of its shelters.

Richard said the team handles such things as toothaches, headaches, dehydration, nicks and cuts not requiring a hospital or urgent care. Sometimes it’s providing an ear to someone who needs to talk.

“We provide consultation for everyday guidance,” he said.

Richard, who has been a Red Cross volunteer for more than a decade, decided to become part of a health care team at shelters when he was on a state task force during an ice storm.

He said it was his first time to see what the Red Cross could do help those in need. At one location, the Red Cross assumed the operation of a shelter that had been open for about three days.

“I saw the difference the Red Cross could make in the lives of the people there,” he said.

Over the years, he has deployed many times around the country for floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other types of disasters to provide comfort and care for those in need.

He recalled his time at a Florida shelter after Hurricane Ian struck. He was talking to a couple in their 80s who lost their home in the storm. Sitting together on a shelter cot, they told Richard that they had a daughter in Indiana but didn’t know how they could get there.

Richard helped them book a flight at the Tampa airport since the one closer at Fort Myers still was closed. He arranged for them to get an Uber ride to Tampa to start their journey to their daughter.

“The look on their faces when they realized that they had a way to get out of the situation they were in was more than enough to equal a great repayment for the time I spent there,” he said.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the American Red Cross, and more volunteers are always needed. If you are interested in volunteering to help with national disasters like what Richard does, or to help right in your own community, visit www.redcross.org/volunteertoday