By Harriet Vanderbilt, Red Cross Volunteer

“I have always had an interest in emergency community service”, declares John Sheehan.  A Portland resident, John signed up to volunteer with his Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET).  NET volunteers are trained by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and Portland Fire and Rescue to provide emergency assistance within their own neighborhoods. They are trained to save lives and to help others.

Through fellow NET volunteer Roman Perez, John learned about serving as a volunteer for Red Cross and the disaster action team (DAT).  The community service aspect appealed to John.  “The mission of the DAT volunteer program and that of the NET program were similar”, stated John.  Due to other daily commitments, the blending of the two volunteer activities worked well.  John has been a DAT volunteer for nearly 3 years. 

As a former high school teacher, John pointed out that being a DAT volunteer had similarities.  “Teaching and DAT are both exhausting and yet very gratifying.”  DAT team members respond to local, personal disasters such as home fires.  They are ready to respond within 2 hours of notice, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Volunteers offer compassion and emotional support while handling immediate shelter and supply needs.  They assure victims that someone cares.

Among the many responses in John’s DAT career, a couple of calls stand out.  John and Roman Perez responded to a fire in a very small Portland church, which was also home to the pastor and his son.  Although related, the two men were not close.  While the pastor had no physical disadvantages, his son had challenges and used a motorized wheelchair.

The pastor’s son had no phone and no vehicle.  He worked at home.  Giving the man the assistance he needed was difficult.  “When we gave him a pre-paid card to use, he was unable to use it because he had no phone.  A normal 2-hour local response became quite a few hours.  It took me over an hour to find a van with the lift needed for the wheelchair.  Finding an ADA-adapted motel room also took time.  This is the mission and this is what you do”, John said.

On John’s initial DAT response after training, he and his coach Roman assisted at a home fire in a somewhat rundown part of town.  The two residents of the house were not well known by neighbors.  “We asked them for identification and proof of residency.  They told us all the paperwork had burned in the fire.  We explained that proof was necessary in order to receive assistance.  Finally, one of them declared that their mug shots from Multnomah County Jail would be proof of identity”.

“That call reinforced my belief that one should not judge a book by its cover after that call”, stated John.  We help folks from all walks of life.  They are all kind, appreciative, respectful and thankful.”  John added that “I hope Red Cross volunteers wanting community service “in the moment” will choose to do this kind of work.”  There’s always time to service to those in need.

Please visit www.redcross.org for further information.