Remembering Katrina -

[IdaBriggs]

3. My 1st time on DUs front page was Katrina: "I have returned from my 10 day stint with Red Cross."

I still remember it all vividly.

This was posted on September 22, 2005 at 9:55 p.m.

"I have returned from my 10 day stint with Red Cross. (1st Impressions)"

I got home tonight. I'm exhausted, and not sure I ever want to go back to another disaster ever again. At the same time, I am feeling terribly guilty about not being there to help out anymore, especially because of the close relationships that developed between myself and my team mates. My husband says this is pretty common for "soldiers in a war zone," and I guess he's right: that's pretty much what it felt like.

I never made it to a shelter. I was trained in a "quickie" class on "Introduction to Disaster," "Mass Care" and "Shelter Management", but my computer skills ended up placing me at the staff headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama. I helped develop a system for tracking Trucks, Drivers, Destinations and Supplies for the Bulk Distribution team, and I have to tell everyone -- our teams worked their butts off! From the warehouse folks (a lot of Navy nuke men - shout out: I Love You Guys!) to the drivers, to the dispatchers, to the people scrambling to figure out what needed to go where, and how to keep track of who got what when -- it was craziness! It was chaos! It was ... amazing. There was a clear sense of "the mission" -- getting supplies (water, toilet paper, food, diapers, etc.) -- to the people who needed it, and doing whatever it took to get the job done.

The biggest problem was the bureaucracy. Volunteers roll in and out (all of us doing this for free), and frustrations happen. The "out processing" part was just patently ridiculous, and I flat out refused to participate in several parts of it. I had gotten "sign offs" from: 1) Mental Health, 2) Staff (Medical) Health, 3) Accounting, 4) Hotels, 5) my "supervisor", 6) his superior, and the "7) okay you can leave now" folks. I refused to get signatures from four additional departments who would sign that I had not received a 1) cell phone, 2) rental car, 3) phone card or 4) radio; I am a "rebel" and simply put "N/A" through those sections. Its a small complaint, but when two hours for "out processing" is considered "quick," as a volunteer my answer becomes "la bite me."

I'm tired. It was frustrating, and exhausting. I swear to God some of the official "staff" people were there just to piss the rest of us off -- at least, that's how it felt sometimes. But one "old timer" explained to me that this was how every disaster was: chaotic, disorganized, frustrating, and annoying, but somehow, everything still got done, because everyone just keeps putting their shoulders to the wheel, and somehow, somehow, everything gets to where it needs to go.

We made screw-ups. The warehouse guys loaded up several pallets of flashlights, and didn't catch that batteries weren't included on a couple of trucks. What an "OUCH!" moment! A couple of trucks had to be loaded multiple times when weight became an issue. And the whole "baby wipes" fiasco will probably be pretty funny in a few years, but it isn't right now. Sigh. At the same time, dozens of men loaded hundreds of trucks with heavy boxes non-stop for days in 90-100 degree heat, while others drove them hundreds of miles on no sleep to get them there as quickly as possible -- and you know what the biggest complaint I heard was?

"Why can't we do MORE?"

The shelter workers wanted to get there quicker. The truck drivers wanted the trucks loaded faster, and screw the whole "sleep" thing, while the warehouse guys just lost weight in front of your eyes. The doctors and nurses, social workers and teachers -- every single one of the people there was there solely because they wanted to help!

I'm tired. I'm on no sleep. It was incredible, and I never want to go back again. I'll probably call in the morning to see when I can do another rotation.

It really was about helping the victims, and I'm extremely proud that I was privileged enough to meet and work with these incredible people. I'm glad I did it, I'm glad I'm home, and I'm glad I was a part of the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief effort. I even bought a t-shirt.

But I'm still not filling out anymore damn paperwork.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4856343&mesg_id=4856343 /blockquote]