SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2018 12PM — The impacts of Friday’s Nor’easter continue to be felt across Eastern Pennsylvania. Hundreds of thousands are without power, and highways in the Poconos remain clogged with travelers left stranded by the storm.

In response, the American Red Cross opened several shelters across the region Friday night. Many other communities have opened warming centers and charging stations for those without power. For warming center locations near you, contact your county emergency management agency.

The Red Cross expects to open, or support through partner agencies, several more shelters tonight. Information and locations on these shelters will be released as soon as it is available.

Power outages are expected to last for several days in some places. In addition, county and state officials are working to clear roads as quickly as possible. The Red Cross has these important safety tips to keep you and your family safe in the aftermath of the Nor’easter.

POCONO TRAVEL

• If you are stranded, stay in your vehicle and wait for help. Do not leave the vehicle to search for assistance unless help is visible. You can become disoriented and confused in blowing snow.
• Run the engine occasionallyto keep warm. Turn on the engine for about 10 minutes each hour. Use the heater while the engine is running. Keep the exhaust pipe clear of snow, and slightly open a downwind window for ventilation.

WINTER STORM SAFETY

• Wear layers of clothing, a hat, mittens and waterproof, insulated boots if out in the snow.
• Avoid overexertion, such as shoveling heavy, wet snow, pushing a vehicle, or walking in deep snow. The strain from the cold and the hard labor may cause a heart attack. Sweating could lead to a chill and hypothermia.
• Check on your neighbors, especially elderly people living alone, people with disabilities and children.

POWER OUTAGE

• Use flash lights in the dark, not candles.
• Eliminate unnecessary travel, especially by car. Traffic lights will be out and roads will be congested.
• If you are using a generator be sure you understand the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and how touse generators safely. Never use a generator indoors or in a garage. It must be kept outside in a well ventilated area.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. An unopened refrigerator will keep foods cold for about 4 hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. If it looks like the power outage will continue beyond a day, prepare a cooler with ice for your freezer items.
• Keep food in a dry, cool spot and keep it covered at all times.
• Turn off and unplug all unnecessary electrical equipment, including sensitive electronics.
• Turn off or disconnect any appliances (like stoves), equipment or electronics you were using when the power went out. When power comes back on, surges or spikes can damage equipment.
• Leave one light turned on so you’ll know when the power comes back on.

SPACE HEATERS

• If using a space heater, place the heater on a level, hard and nonflammable surface in the home.
• Keep all potential sources of fuel like paper, clothing, bedding, curtains or rugs at least three feet away from space heaters, stoves, or fireplaces.
• Portable heaters and fireplaces should never be left unattended. Turn off space heaters and make sure any embers in the fireplace are extinguished before leaving home.
• Keep children and pets away from space heaters.

DOWNLOAD RED CROSS APPS

People can download the Red Cross Emergency App for instant access to weather alerts for their area and where loved ones live. Expert medical guidance and a hospital locator are included in the First Aid App in case you encounter any mishaps. Both apps are available to download for free in app stores or at redcross.org/apps.

Imagine yourself giving a dollar to the American Red Cross — not a bill, but 100 pennies. The person accepting the money would count out nine cents and set that aside. On average, the remaining 91 cents of every dollar the American Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. This is only possible through the generosity of donors like you.  Some of the efforts your charitable donation supports when you give to the Red Cross include:

1. Disaster Relief
2. Home Fires
3. Training and Certification
4. Help to Military Families
5. Health Care and Blood Drives
6. International Efforts

In a year marked by historic hurricanes, wildfires and other crises, the American Red Cross was there for a record number of people across the country whose lives were upended by major events.  Your donation powered the Red Cross Eastern PA to respond to over 1,000 disasters last year, providing shelter, food, emotional support and other necessities to over 5,000 people.  We installed nearly 11,000 smoke alarms in our region and provided The Pillowcase Project to over 9,700 students teaching them how to be prepared in the face of emergencies.  With over 155,000 blood donations and over 3,100 services to military members, veterans and their families, our programs and services bring help and hope to those in need every single day.

Every year the Red Cross in Eastern PA conducts a number of signature events throughout region that would not be possible without the generous support of our community and sponsors. We welcome you to come out in support of these events as money raised goes back into the many services we provide to the local community.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming events from March 4^th– June 30^th:
March 4, 2018: Pocono Telethon
March 24, 2018: Red Ball
April 20, 2018: Lehigh Valley Cabaret & Cuisine: Back to the 80’s
May 8, 2018: Red Cross Cup Golf Tournament
May 16, 2018: Clara Barton Awards Reception
May 19, 2018: Celebration of Life SAF Walk and Lunch
May 20, 2018: Run for the Red Pocono Marathon

Upcoming Heroes Events:
Visit this blog post for more information on all of our Heroes events.
March 15, 2018: Northeastern PA Heroes Event
May 10, 2018: Berks County Heroes Breakfast
May 31, 2018: Bucks County Heroes Breakfast
June 1, 2018: Schuylkill County Heroes Breakfast
June 20, 2018: Chester County Heroes Breakfast

Volunteers carry out 90% of the humanitarian work of the Red Cross. Whether helping one displaced family or thousands, providing care and comfort to an ill or injured service member or veteran, or teaching others how to respond in emergencies, it’s through the efforts of ordinary people that we can do extraordinary things.

This Martin Luther King Day of Service was no exception.  Throughout the day bearing the cold, volunteers gathered from across the region to participate in smoke alarm installation events for MLK Day of Service.  For some it was their first event. For others, one of many.  When asked the question to one volunteer, why did you come out today, they answered, “I wanted to do my part in making the community a better and safer place.”

As part of the MLK Day of Service, the Red Cross Eastern PA region held six smoke alarm installation events across our 17 county region.  This is part of the Home Fire Campaign to make our communities safer and better prepared by installing free smoke alarms and educating the community on fire safety.

Philadelphia: Saturday, January 13, 2018

 Ashland, Schuylkill County: Saturday, January 13, 2018

 Reading, Berks County: Monday, January 15, 2018

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County: Monday January 15, 2018

 Norristown, Montgomery County: Monday, January 15, 2018

Carbondale, Lackawanna County: Monday January 15, 2018

Red Cross volunteers, along with local fire departments and our community partners, went door-to-door to speak with residents and educate them on potential home fire hazards and risks. Fire safety information was provided in English and Spanish and residents received free smoke alarms installed in their homes.

Overall, we installed more than 500 smoke alarms! 

Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a home fire and on average 36 people suffer injuries as a result of home fires every day. To combat these tragic statistics, the Red Cross launched a nationwide campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent. Since its inception in 2014, the Home Fire Campaign has 303 documented lives saved nationwide.

Stay tuned as we Sound the Alarm this spring.  We will have more smoke alarm events throughout the region and will need your help in installing more alarms and educating the community.

To become a Red Cross volunteer visit, www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Every day, ordinary people make extraordinary contributions by putting their needs aside to help others in our community. The American Red Cross is honored to salute these unsung heroes in our Annual Heroes Celebration.

Your hero might be a lifeguard who saved a drowning child, an ordinary citizen who performed CPR when a stranger collapsed at a shopping mall, or someone who saved a neighbor’s beloved pets from a fire.

Counties host their own Celebration in which they honor the prior year’s local heroes for using their First Aid, CPR, AED training and/or other actions to save lives or make the county a better place to live and work.

This spring we have several events throughout the region.  Click on your local Heroes event for more information, to nominate a hero, sponsor the event, or to purchase tickets.

March 15, 2018
Northeastern PA Heroes Event
Mohegan Sun Pocono
5-8 p.m.

May 10, 2018
Berks County Heroes Breakfast
Crowne Plaza Reading Hotel
7:30 a.m. -9 a.m.

May 31, 2018
Bucks County Heroes Breakfast
Parx Casino
7:30 a.m. -9 a.m.

June 1, 2018
Schuylkill County Heroes Breakfast
Schuylkill Country Club
7:30 a.m. -9 a.m.

June 20, 2018
Chester County Heroes Breakfast
Desmond Hotel Malvern
7:30 a.m. -9 a.m.

Although we are enjoying an unusual warm fall, winter is indeed coming. Days will be noticeably shorter and the weather will get colder. As we naturally associate these facts together, it just makes sense that we prepare for them simultaneously. Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, November 5, which means that we should turn our clocks back an hour. It is also the perfect time to test the batteries in our smoke alarms.

Yes, smoke alarms! You know? Those round, white things on your home ceiling. If you have just moved into your first home, or you are perpetually distracted – like me – you might not even notice them. Well, I have news for you: those small devices SAVE LIVES, and they do need a change of batteries from time to time.

How do I know this? Funny that you ask. Let’s go back four years. My husband, my 7-month-old and I just moved to the US from overseas. We were thrilled with our new house, the area and our jobs. Everything was super exciting… and exhausting! Add a baby to an international move, sprinkle in a 12-hour time difference and you get a zombie-looking, extremely tired family. You get the idea.

After another chaotic day of unpacking, I was in bed, peacefully sleeping when… Beep! Beep! Beep! An annoying, perfectly timed beep sounded from somewhere in our house. My husband and I got up, almost sleepwalking, bumping into boxes and unfamiliar doors while looking for the source of the sound.

We checked everything, every single appliance, toy, clock and electronic device that you can think of. We unplugged, turned off and restarted each of them. But the beeping sound was relentless. We gave up, we were just too tired to keep looking, so we did the only thing left to do, we got out airplane earplugs, climbed back to bed, and slept despite the noise.  Lucky me, my baby is a heavy sleeper and she didn’t even flinch during our nighttime adventure. Bless her heart!

The next morning, when we took out the earplugs, the beeping not only continued but it got even worse! What was happening? Was our house damaged? Were we losing our minds? Not knowing what else to do, we walked across the street and we asked our neighbor if he could come over to take a look. To my surprise, as soon as he walked in the door, he grabbed a stool and reach out to the smoke alarm. “It needs new batteries”. He went into his house and came back with batteries to replace them for us.  He was amazed and horrified at the same time that we were able to ignore the beeping and keep sleeping.

As mortified as I was, I learned my lesson. I did my research and got in the habit of checking the smokes alarms during Daylight Saving Time weekend. So take a piece of advice from me, if you want to avoid something much worse than public embarrassment, don’t sleep on it! Check your smoke alarms, protect your family.

-Written by Mar Torres