My Red Cross Story: Joan Gough

By Rose Ellen O'Connor, Volunteer

On a cold afternoon this winter, Joan Gough stood with several other Red Cross volunteers outside a burning apartment in Prince George’s County, trying to comfort a little boy who was crying because he thought he’d lost all his toys. They consoled him by acknowledging it was sad, suggesting he could get some new toys and telling him he was blessed because all his family had safely escaped the fire.

Joan Gough, showing off a pillow case
 from the Pillowcase Project

When you’re on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond to home fires, as Joan, 69, has been since last spring, some moments can be heartbreaking but it’s also so rewarding.

Joan, a retired Montgomery College counselor to students with disabilities, puts it simply: “I was able to help someone in distress so that makes me feel good.”

She finds it inspiring, she says.

“It’s seeing how the families come together to support one another and how all the neighbors try to support them as well,” Joan says. “The fire department is there and other people are on the scene. Everyone is there to help. So that’s a really great experience.”

Joan responds to fires when she can. Sometimes other people are closer and they take the call and she’ll respond to another one. When Red Cross volunteers arrive on the scene, they console the fire victims and get some basic information about the inhabitants of the home. If needed, they hand out “comfort kits,” filled with toiletries, such as soap and toothbrushes. If the house or apartment is no longer habitable, they provide the family with a voucher for short-term lodging, food and clothing. They also offer a practical guide on what to do next, such as calling to turn off utilities, and a referral guide for other services they may need.

“Most of them are very distressed because they have lost something. Sometimes, they’ve lost everything,” Joan says. “Usually, they’re so very grateful for whatever we can do to help them.”

Joan first volunteered for the Red Cross in the 1970s in Brooklyn, where she responded to house fires. She got caught up in work and slowly dropped out. She now lives in Germantown and rejoined the Red Cross almost two years ago, after she retired.

Her first volunteer effort for the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region was with the Pillowcase Project. She still helps with it about twice a month, especially during the school year. The Pillowcase Project is a free preparedness program for children in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Its goal is to increase awareness of natural hazards and home fires and teaches safety, emotional coping skills and personal preparedness. The presentations are held in schools, churches, summer camps and before Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.

During the presentation, volunteers talk about home fires and whatever natural hazard is in season. In the winter they discuss winter storms, for example, and in the summer they discuss thunder and lightning and eventually hurricanes. The program was put together by the Red Cross and Disney after Hurricane Katrina. The children get booklets and pillowcases with Disney characters on them. The pillow cases also are imprinted with a list of items they might want to bring in the event they need to evacuate their homes. It includes a change of clothes, water, blanket, soap and a first-aid kit, among many other items. They color the pillow cases and discuss what they might want to put in them. They also talk about what the family evacuation kit might need and discuss smoke alarms and practicing home fire drills so they can get out of the home safely. Children are also taught deep breathing as a way to calm themselves if they get anxious in an emergency.

“They’re usually very enthusiastic. They ask good questions,” Joan says. “And they get to take it home and share it with their families. In this way, they become part of the Red Cross team.”

As often as possible, Joan volunteers for Sound the Alarm. Red Cross, in conjunction with the fire department and other community organizations and businesses, goes into neighborhoods with a high incidence or risk for fires and installs free smoke alarms. Many of the homes have either outdated alarms, broken alarms or no alarms at all. Volunteers talk about where a smoke alarm should be placed and where it shouldn’t. They also talk about other safety issues, advising against using space heaters when it’s cold or lighting candles when the electricity goes out. They discuss testing their smoke alarms and practicing escape routes.

“I think we’re saving lives,” Joan says. “To know that their house is safer so that they are safer and have a much better chance of escaping if there ever is a fire in their home – that’s what’s really rewarding.”

Finally, Joan has just started volunteering for a new emergency preparedness program aimed at children in kindergarten through second grade. She reads them the Prepare with Pedro Disaster Activity Book. Pedro is a penguin who goes to a friend’s house, hears three beeps and sees that the mother is testing the smoke alarm to make sure it’s working. He learns that when a smoke alarm beeps, it’s time to move quickly and follow a planned escape route out of the house and go to a pre-arranged meeting place.

The children practice evacuating from a fire, learning to get low under the smoke, which is represented by a gray plastic bag. After they get out of the fire, they go to a meeting place, which is set up in the classroom or auditorium. Joan says the children enjoy the exercise and are proud when they complete it. Volunteers also teach the children deep breathing as a way of keeping calm.

Joan is glad to be back at work for the Red Cross. She says she appreciates all the assistance she receives from other volunteers and staff who have helped her and continue to train her.

“They’re always on the front line,” she says. “They’re working with the people and their thoughts are always what can I do to help the people in whatever emergency or disaster it is.”

Join Joan and support our Sound the Alarm Home Fire Campaign in our community today: redcross.org/ncrinstalls