Red Cross Emergency and Disaster Services volunteers Brenda Faber and Darlene Burnett of Carlyle were among the early responders called to assist the initial wave of over 300 evacuees from three northern communities, all of whom were fleeing the devastating forest fires that have since engulfed much of northern Saskatchewan. The Carlyle residents were deployed to Prince Albert on Thursday, June 25 and returned home late in the evening on Sunday, June 28.
“Standing outside, the sky was orange all day,” says Faber. “By the time we left to come back to Carlyle, P.A. was pretty much at full capacity for evacuees.”
“There were big pieces of ash falling down,” adds Burnett. “It must be so scary for them.”
Faber has been a Red Cross volunteer for over a decade, while Burnett joined just over a year ago. Both women were deployed to help during last summer's floods in the Carnduff area. Faber has also ventured to northern Saskatchewan before, acting as a Red Cross volunteer when the community of Cumberland House was flooded in 2013.
“On July 1 last year in Carnduff, it was really well-organized,” says Faber. “That's because we were going to do a mock (drill) and the real thing happened.”
This time, they were among the first Red Cross personnel to arrive on scene, where they were put to work in Prince Albert at the city's SIAST campus registering and placing over 300 evacuees from the First Nations communities of Sucker River, Montreal Lake and Weyakwin.
“Buses pulled up and they came,” said Burnett. “It all happens so quickly. It was more of a new experience for me than it was for Brenda, but you catch on pretty quickly and you soon become focused on the people you're trying to help. It was my first time doing an evacuation.”
Faber says they aim to make the registration and needs assessment processes as easy as possible for people who are already experiencing significant stress.
“We register them so they can be reached for any reason, including relatives or friends outside the area wanting to know where they are and if they're okay,” she says. “We do as full a registration as possible, but we don't insist on ID. We just take down their names, the names of their children, their contact information and where they are and what they're doing.”
“Not everyone ends up staying at a Red Cross shelter,” adds Faber. “Some people might have a relative in town that they can stay with. We just gather the information, so we know where they are and can get in touch with them, if needed.”
“We try to keep families together and we really try to look after the elderly. If at all possible, we might put an elderly person in a motel or hotel. When we set up the shelters, we set up cots with blankets and pillows; but that's pretty hard on an older person.”
The Red Cross also supplies evacuees with personal hygiene kits, food vouchers and baby supplies.
“By the second day, the situation at SIAST was organized so that nutritious meals could be cooked for (the evacuees),” says Faber. “But the first night, we ordered in 40 pizzas-twice! And there were pallets and pallets of bottled water, to prevent people from getting dehydrated.”
Volunteers also focus on the emotional needs of evacuees.
“It's very busy,” says Burnett. “But you're there trying to help people to feel better during a really stressful time (for them). You find yourself chatting with them-especially with kids-and you hope you are helping them feel just a little bit better.”
“Your attention is on them,” adds Faber. “And one thing I'd really like to express is that there's a fine line between sympathy and empathy. I've found that people don't want your sympathy, but they need to know you're trying to understand how they feel.”
Depending on the length and circumstances of an evacuation, people caught up in a traumatic situation like this one experience a myriad of emotions, according to Faber.
“Every situation is different,” she says. “Often people expect to be evacuated, but by the third or fourth day, they're ready to go home. They're tired of sleeping in a cot in a shelter with hundreds of other people and they just want to go home.”
“Sometimes outside agencies get involved, like social services and other organizations. But communities are usually really good with trying to help the people who are staying there as evacuees,” adds Faber.
“On Sunday, they got wristbands so they could use pools and city transit free of charge,” says Burnett. “It's especially good for the kids when they otherwise can't get outside. One of the local band members taxied people around, too.”
“When I was in Cumberland House before, the casino put on a big July 1 fun day with a big barbeque and a lot of other things for the people who had been evacuated,” says Faber. “Everybody was pretty much entertained.”
While the Red Cross and other voluntary and government agencies work to help allieviate the stress for the people they are assisting, both women say that to be a useful volunteer, you also have to look after yourself.
“The Red Cross puts us all through a debriefing and there's a maximum time any volunteer can work without a day off,” says Faber. “The circumstances of a disaster can be devastating and they need to know if this is going to bother you or whether it will roll off your back.”
“With this one, there's no recovery like there was in the floods. We won't be going in and helping to get their houses back in shape. These places are so remote that we won't be going to their communities after it's all over and right now (at press time), weather is still a big factor. Depending on the winds and when the rains come, no one knows when it will end.”
“Every situation is different,” says Faber. “You might get choked up at the time, but you can always walk away and get ahold of yourself, or you won't be helping anybody.”
“It's hard to leave some (people),” she continues. “Because they seem to get pretty attached to you.”
“They form an attachment to you because you were kind to them and they are grateful,” says Burnett. “You helped them during a really stressful time in their lives and that's so rewarding.”
Both women say that volunteering for the Red Cross is both a rewarding experience and a humbling one.
“I got to meet Brenda and a lot of other awesome people,” says Burnett. “After I retired, I really wanted to do something that would kind of pay it forward.”
“You really become a Red Cross family,” says Faber. “You experience things that only another Red Cross volunteer would understand. I started volunteering with the Red Cross because I wanted to do something for me. I love people and I love helping them. I like getting in there and saying 'Let's do it!'”
Faber also cites the Red Cross mission statement, part of which states that the organization aims to: “provide help immediately to whoever needs it, wherever they are, whatever their race, political beliefs, religion, racial status or culture.”
“The Red Cross is for everyone,” says Faber. “For the people it helps and for its volunteers. I really encourage people to look into volunteering, if they're at all interested.”
“It's one of the best things you can do,” she adds. “I'd go back anytime.”
“I would too,” says Burnett. “I think we'll both be back.”
To learn more, check out www.redcross.ca.
