Red Cross supplies cots, goods to help prepare local shelters

Bob Bartling, director of emergency services for the Siouxland Area Red Cross, helps local Red Cross volunteer Gerry Neuroth unload cots and shelter supplies in Le Mars to be stored in case of an emergency where a shelter would need to be set up for victims. [Click to enlarge]

In case of a flood, an ice storm, a heat wave, tornado or pandemic, victims who are forced from their Plymouth County homes will have a place to sleep.

Friday, the Siouxland Area Chapter of the Red Cross delivered 80 cots, pillows, blankets and a supply of adult and youth comfort kits to the Le Mars Disaster Services building.

Part of the Red Cross' mission for disaster preparedness is to be responsible for shelters in the region, said Bob Bartling, director of emergency services for the Siouxland Chapter.

"Before this there were no cots in Plymouth County," he said. "These are Red Cross supplies stored in Plymouth County so if something happened the supplies would be a lot closer than Sioux City."

These cots and comfort kits, which include toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving cream, razor, washcloth and sometimes coloring books for kids, could be used for an emergency in any Plymouth County community.

Shelters would be established based on need in any given emergency, Bartling said.

Some cots will also be stored at the Le Mars Fire Department to be used by emergency responders in a disaster situation.

The cots, pillows, blankets and comfort kits were paid for with about a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County.

The cots are deluxe, military-style cots, holding up to 350 pounds.

The goal, Bartlin said, is to spread Red Cross stockpiles of supplies across the Siouxland area.

"They've been instrumental in getting the shelters organized in Plymouth County," said Gary Junge, county disaster services director.

Red Cross volunteer Gerry Neuroth, of Le Mars, helped unload the cots in Le Mars Friday wearing her Red Cross uniform, a red vest.

Neuroth has slept on these cots before.

In her third year of volunteering, Neuroth recently spent time in Arkansas following the ice storm that hit in late January.

"We took over for the local people who had been running the shelter 24/7 and were exhausted," she said. "We also went up into the Ozark Mountains to talk to people and a couple of nights we delivered food to people that had no water, no food. They were just waiting for us."

At night, the Red Cross volunteers slept on cots in shelters, too.

"By the time your head hits the pillow, you're so exhausted you just fall asleep," Neuroth remembered.

She volunteers because she wants to help people in need.

"When people see the red vests coming down the street, they just come apart. They know they're going to be taken care of," Neuroth said. "Even just to be there, even just to listen is important. People just need a shoulder."

Neuroth is one of 20 disaster volunteers for the American Red Cross living in Plymouth County.

Disaster volunteers are trained in mass care, emergency center operations, effective service delivery, serving diverse communities, logistics, supervising on a disaster assignment, serving people with disabilities and CPR.

The Siouxland Area Chapter also has two action teams in Plymouth County that respond to all local fires 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For more information on how you can volunteer to help at disaster shelters, contact the Siouxland Area Chapter of the American Red Cross at 712-252-4081 or visit www.siouxlandredcross.org.