Four Red Cross disaster volunteers from Iowa are heading for California today to help those affected by a series of huge wildfires. Jacci Etter Skogerboe of Clarion is a health services volunteer and explains what she’ll be doing on the West Coast for the next few weeks.
“I volunteer as an EMT here in Clarion,” Skogerboe says. “So, what we do is we do welfare checks, we help out in the shelters if somebody needs any medical attention. We’ll many have patients with headaches and stomach aches.”
More than 1,100 people in California accessed Red Cross and community shelters on Sunday, places where they can get food and drinks, showers, support and information about the wildfire situation.
This is the fourth time Skogerboe has volunteered on Red Cross missions outside of Iowa. “My first one was in Mississippi when they were expecting flooding years ago,” she says, “and then West Virginia for the power outages and then I had the opportunity to go to New York after Hurricane Sandy.”
Three other Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are headed for California: Cody Peterson from Graettinger is also a health services volunteer, and Don Boehler and Pat Petrie both of Marshalltown, are disaster services technology volunteers who help with phone and computer technology on disaster operations. Iowans who would like to help can call 800-Red-Cross to make a donation, or visit www.redcross.org.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)