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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1960)
PAGE TWO HERALD AND NEWS, KT.AMATIT FATXS. OREGON SUNDAY, MARCH 13, infiO Red Cross Tells Story This MobdHIIi Story Of Red Cross Must Begin With The Volunteer The story of the Red Cross be gins with its volunteers. Interna tionally, the organization was ioumled by volunteers. It was brought to this country by volun teer leadership. Here in America, Hod Cross took deep root because the tradition of neighbors volun teering to help one another and their communities is part of our national heritage. Providing a means an or ganizationthrough which neigh bor can help neighbor, your Red Cross has been on the job for more than 75 years; since June 2, 1!)7, this community has held a Red Cross charier to help resi dents of the Klamath Basin to serve our nation and our commu nity. On October 7, 1055, the char ter was amended to include the Tulelake and Newell areas and the name changed from "Klamath County" to Klamath Basin Chap ter. Headquarters are in the Coun ty Library Building: workers in clude n staff of two and nearly three hundred trained volunteers. l ocal activities are governed by a board of thirty volunteers, charged with responsibility for ad ministering a local program to carry out the duties and responsi-! bililies of the charter granted by, the Congress of the United Stales.! Volunteers serve as canteen workers, social welfare aides. blood program nurses, and staff. aides. They teach first aid classes swimming classes, and instruct ex pectant parents in the care of young children and infants. Because the Red Cross program is one of great scope and conv plexity, misunderstandings are bound to arise and critical ques tions will often be raised about the organization's activities. What ever their origin, the Red Cross organization as a whole and the local chapter insists that such questions should be answered ful ly, frankly, and courteously. Those seeking more information about the organization, and its opportun ities to serve, are invited to con lact the local chapter. Although the organization is quasi governmental in nature, it is supported solely by voluntary contributions of the American peo ple. In this community, the Tule lake Branch holds an annual fund drive in March; in Klamath Coun ty the activities are supported by the United Fund-Red Cross cam paign held each fall. Thanks to the success of this campaign, no fund raising activi ties will be conducted by the Red Cross in Klamath County during -March, but the local chapter wish es to express its appreciation to its contributors and to report back to the public the scope and im portancc of the programs financed by the generous support of local residents. i iiiri iii ii i mm -"'"' " M" I I' 1 -''V'-"'-" jy i.t-3' ' -- r -v . 4. -S "THIS IS HIS FIRST DONATION. HE'LL FEEL JUST FINE AFTER HE GIVES" Blood Donation Program Big RC Item "YOU MAY GET UP NOW MR. JONES, WE FOUND A SANDBAG TO REPLACE YOU." Disaster Service Is Big Part Of Red Cross Plans There is nothing beautiful about disaster, which in an instant can wreck the work of a lifetime. But there is something awe-inspiring nbout the way in which Americans work together to help their strick en neighbors through the medium cf Red Cross Disaster Service. Last year the Red Cross con ducted 2!I8 disaster relief opera tions for victims of fires, torna does, floods, hurricanes, wrecks, and explosions. Food, shelter, clothing and medical aid were giv en to 88,800 victims; 17,000 fami lies received post-disaster assis tance with rehabilitation, includ ing repairing nnd rebuilding 1,700 homes; Red Cross assists disaster victims with so obligation to re pay; all that's required is proof of actual need. Thankfully, most communities were not hit by disaster; this com munity can take pride in that it lias never failed to meet its full share of the quota on any special disaster appeal launched by "the Red Cross. Meanwhile, the local chapter works cooperatively with Civil Defense in disaster prepar edness planning, fully aware that disasters seldom respect geogra phyand "it can happen here." Red Cross benefits to the na tion's disaster victims last year were provided at a cost of $i,904, J82 nearly seven million good, hard American dollars spent wise ly and carefully. The use of blood in medicine: make lifesaving bloud therapy and surgery was a relatively rare more generally available to the practice prior to World War 11. civilian population. The result was In the early days of the war new the establishment of the Red Cross techniques for the preservation of i Blood Program, which began in blood plasma, and later for the transportation of whole blood, made it possible for the American people to send their blood to mili tary hospitals and battle fronts around the world. This blood, col lected by Red Cross at the re quest of the government, ployed major part in reducing death and suffering among wounded servicemen. With the end of the war, the nation's medical authorities and the Red Cross sought ways to 1018. The local Red Cross chapter en tered the program in 1051, as one of the 1SO0 Red Cross chapters providing whole blood to patients in 3,'M0 hospitals across the na tion. The program has met all lo cal needs for whole blood since its inception. Totaling the national figures, we find that volunteer don ors provide about two million pints of blood annually; the program costs the Red Cross about $13,000, ooo each year, or a little over g' ri MilWI iiiiwiiiwmjil' $0 per pint volunteered. The need for blood ' increases each year because of the phenom enal growth of America's popula tion and improved medical tech niques that develop new uses and hence greater demand for blood. One of the most dramatic of these is open-heart surgery. Each such operation may require 12 to 20 pints of fresh, whole blood. The blood is pumped through the pa tient by a heart-lung machine, which takes over the functions of these organs while surgeons oper ate directly upon the heart itself. This technique is particularly val- (Continued on Page 4) - ' - ' ' ' "IS THERE ANYONE IN THE CLASS WHO IS AN ADVANCED SWSMMER?" Wafer Safety Courses Taught By RC The avowed aim of Red Cross is to make every American safe in or on the water. A corps of 70,200 volunteer instructors issued 1,338.000 certificates to individuals completing courses in swimming and life saving. Beginning at the grass roots lev el, the organization issues a manu al "Teaching Johnny to Swim" for parents to use in teaching young sters who cannot patronize pools having an organized instruction program. An award winning mo tion picture of the same name is available on free loan to parent groups from the local chapter. Phenomenal increase in recrea tional boating has made it a popu lar family participation sport and has created many new safety prob lems. Because this community has shared in the increased use of water sports, the local chapter plans to send two candidates to the Small Craft school to be con ducted in Idaho in August, plan ning to activate a program of small craft safety in the future. Meanwhile, training of water safety instructors- by the Red Cross provides the City Recreation Department, Malin pool, and youth groups qualified teachers local swim programs. all
