“Taste”ful Ways to be Safe at the World’s Largest Food Festival

The long-awaited Taste of Chicago officially starts today at 11 a.m. and will run through July 3 in Grant Park. The “Taste”, as many refer to it, offers its’ guests a wide array of delicious cuisine from Chicago’s many dining establishments.

Countless people will make the venture to Grant Park to check out what this year’s Taste has in store. With various foods from hot chicken wings to zesty pizza bites, it will be near impossible to leave without your stomach bursting at the seams. It may be hard to imagine anything other than good times and great eats, but it is important to keep in mind that emergencies can still happen.

Here are a few situations to consider as you enjoy the Taste this year:

- Choking: Food or small objects can cause choking if they get caught in your throat and block your airway while you’re walking around and eating. Knowing how to perform CPR on adults, infants, and children under 12 can help you dislodge any foreign object if needed. Sign up for a Red Cross CPR class.

- Heat Exhaustion: Drink plenty of fluids! Avoid alcohol and caffeine, if possible, which can dehydrate the body. Be prepared for heat exhaustion by knowing how to prevent and treat the symptoms. Also, don’t forget to read our do’s and don’ts of heat wave safety.

- Commuter travel: Whether you are traveling via car, bus or train it is essential to be ready for an unexpected emergency. Planning is a crucial first step toward a calm and effective response. Read our commuter safety tips and plan ahead.

As you enjoy various musical acts and unlimited fare at the Taste of Chicago this week, remember to be informed and ready in case you experience a sudden crisis. The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago offers a variety of First Aid/CPR/AED courses for adults, children and infants and safety tips that can help you prepare for any emergency this summer. Please visit http://www.chicagoredcross.org/ for more information.


Written by Hannah Segall, Marketing and Communications Intern

Photo by FreeFlighto46/Flickr

Swept Away with Royal Wedding Fever

Cancel that Friday morning appointment, because the wedding of the year is about to take place. That’s right, Prince William and his fiancée, Kate Middleton, will wed this Friday, April 29 at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

With royal weddings such a rare and special occasion, everyone seems to be going a little bananas about the Royal Wedding between the young couple, which is expected to draw thousands of onlookers in central London and television viewers around the globe. But can you blame us? Who doesn’t love a spectacular wedding full of extravagant hats and decor? With a guest list that includes huge names like Sir Elton John, Victoria & David Beckham, Guy Richie and various royal families from around continental Europe, it’s nearly impossible to escape the publicity of this stunning extravaganza.

Although I won’t be able to attend the special occasion due to… uh, scheduling conflicts… you can bet that I, along with thousands of others, will be sitting front row in our living rooms watching the extraordinary celebration take place. For many of the residents of London, they will have an opportunity to view the ceremony and procession at various landmarks, including Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square. This is where we, the Red Cross, come in.

In order to provide help and safety in case of any emergencies, large or small, during the ceremony, the British Red Cross emergency response teams are expected to scatter over 100 staff and volunteers throughout central London. Specifically, the British Red Cross will staff 80 first aid volunteers, 15 communications and equipment volunteers, 3 first aid posts in Parliament Square and 3 to 6 volunteers at the media village located in Green Park.

Adam Hiley, the British Red Cross emergency planning officer in London stated, “As this is a large scale public event, we have been planning and preparing for it for the past three weeks now. We are deploying equipment and teams for first aid cover to ensure that well-wishers and tourists gathering in central London can be attended to in the event of any emergencies.”

We hope that assistance from the British Red Cross won’t be needed during the ceremony this Friday. However, just as the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, the British Red Cross is always ready to prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies, whether big or small. So go ahead and pour yourself that bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and take a sigh of relief in front of your television Friday morning, knowing that our good friends from the British Red Cross will be around to help this historic and exciting celebration go forth with safety.


Make sure to check out some of the exciting local Royal Wedding events right here in Chicago.

David Roth is an intern at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. He is currently a junior at DePaul Univeristy and dreams of gracing the cover of US Weekly.

Photo from Flickr: Royal-News

Life Happens, Learn CPR

You enter your favorite French bistro with your friends on a Saturday night and are quickly seated at a quaint table right next to a window with a fabulous view of Chicago nightlife. Your waitress pours you a glass of water and gives you a few minutes to look at the menu while she runs to the back room to find your group a bottle of wine. Your best friend cracks a joke about the man across the room that looks like George Clooney and everyone at the table bursts out laughing. All of sudden, a man at the table next to yours collapses head first into his walnut salad. Everyone in the restaurant realizes that the man needs help but no one is trained in CPR. Your table watches in horror, unable to assist in anyway but to flag down a waiter and call 9-1-1. Later, you learn that the man did not survive.

Many may think that the probability of something like this occurring is relatively unlikely, but it was a reality for Nicholas Swain. While catering an event, a man collapsed and died before the ambulance was able to get to the location which was only a couple of blocks away from a hospital. Nicholas and his coworkers from Blue Plate, a catering company, decided to take the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago CPR course to be prepared for this type of incident.

CPR and First Aid are life saving skills that everyone young or old should have, because emergency incidents can occur at any time. On March 19th the Red Cross’s Save-A-Life event offered free CPR and First Aid classes throughout the nation. The event was in honor of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords who was shot in the head during a congressional rally in Tucson, Arizona. After the initial hit, her intern Daniel Hernandez provided first aid assistance and saved her life.

On Save-A-Life Saturday more than 11,000 individuals were trained. Like Nicholas and his colleagues, they also realized the importance of being prepared.

Nicholas and the catering staff come into contact with a variety of people and the probability of an incident where the use of CPR for emergency assistance is high. When working in the hospitality industry being able to perform CPR and the Heimlich maneuver can safe a life. According to a report conducted by the Center for Disease Control in the U.S. 60% of choking in children ages 0-14 was related to food. Food related choking incidents can occur anywhere from the home to a restaurant. It is important for restaurant, catering, and other hospitality industry staff to be able to perform procedures such as the Heimlich to prevent choking.

Being prepared can save lives, whether it is from learning how to prevent a fire to rescue support through CPR, the key is to be prepared. We encourage everyone to take a CPR class and to visit the prepared section on our website chicagoredcross.org .

Take action and learn CPR like Nicholas, his co-workers at Blue Plate, and the 11,000people who dedicated their time on Save-A-Life Saturday. Next time a person starts choking or collapses it may be up to you to save their life. Be ready. Be prepared.

Written By: Lauren Snyder and Erica Serna

Time to Perform CPR on Mad Men…

In preparation for last night’s Season 4 opener, I took some time to recap the past few seasons of Mad Men. I realized that more often than not, Red Cross training could have helped these intriguing characters as they found themselves in unusual and sometimes ridiculous situations. (BEWARE: If you aren’t caught up on Mad Men there are SPOILERS in this!)

Let’s begin with Season 1 - audiences are introduced to Helen Bishop, a divorcee with two children who is new to the Ossining neighborhood. Betty Draper, being the good neighbor that she is, kindly agrees to help Helen by babysitting her young son. Unfortunately for Betty, things went terribly wrong. I’m sure Betty wishes she would have enrolled in our Babysitter's Bootcamp before taking on this endeavor where she would have learned about the importance of leadership and professionalism; safety and safe play; and first aid.

Still looking at Season 1, Roger Sterling, a partner and known womanizer at Sterling and Cooper, is up late partying with his co-worker Don Draper and suffers a massive heart attack. Don Draper must have been kicking himself and thinking, "If only I had taken a CPR/AED training course, I would have the lifesaving skills needed to perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and use an automated external defibrillator (AED)."

You don’t even want to get me started on last season, when Lois decided to take a John Deere tractor around the office for a joy ride. If Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce had provided First Aid training to their employees, they all would have been prepared to provide emergency assistance to the poor guy who lost his foot.

This really got me thinking - although accidents like these are far and few between, they may occur and I know that when they do, I have the training necessary to respond.

posted by: Rachael Garcia, Resource Development

A New Chicago Volunteer's Story

In 2008, I took my first class at the Grand Rapids, Michigan, chapter of the American Red Cross. Hurricane Katrina had come and gone, but the feeling of helplessness I had experienced was still fresh in my mind. "I'll be ready for the next one," I thought, as images of myself as a bedraggled aid worker saving lives at ground zero of the next big disaster flashed through my head.

I think that's how a lot of people find their way to the Red Cross: with hopes of participating in humanitarian campaigns in exotic locales. And while their intentions are noble, there's more to this organization than feeding children in third world countries or sheltering evacuees in disaster-affected regions.

Does the Red Cross do those things? Yes, but there's much more to it.

By adhering to the motto, "Think Globally, Act Locally," Red Cross chapters strive to take care of those in immediate need at a local level. Thousands of chapters across the country focusing on their own neighborhoods - that's how the American Red Cross truly fulfills its mission.

No, I never ended up traveling to a major disaster as part of a Red Cross team. That doesn't mean it won't happen some day, but until that time comes, I've had the opportunity to do so much more. Instead of focusing on disaster response, I became a first aid/CPR instructor. Why wait around for the next big one when there are people right here that need me (and you!) right now?

Teaching classes has its benefits. I get to practice speaking in front of a group and test my jokes, for example, but the best part is knowing that my contribution could help someone - even save a life. It's incredibly rewarding.

And through the inconveniences of relocating from Michigan to Chicago, starting a new job and getting myself acclimated to the city took my attentions away from volunteering for a few months, I've found my way back and look forward to working with such a large (and busy) chapter.

For now, I'm satisfied with first aid/CPR classes, but there are opportunities aplenty to try other things. A new volunteer can easily find their niche here, which is one of the greatest aspects of helping out at the Red Cross.

I urge anyone that's looking for a way to spend some time giving back to the community to consider the Red Cross. Once this organization gets in your blood, you'll want to keep giving back.

If you've somehow found your way to this blog without reviewing the Chicago Red Cross home page, check out our Chart of Opportunities to see what you can do to help out.

Don't see anything you like? Give us a call, tell us what you can do for the ARGC and I bet we can make it happen.

Red Cross Instruction Car No. 1

Fun fact: 99 years ago, this month, the Pullmans donated a wooden sleeper car that would serve as a mobile first aid training facility.

The Pullman Palace Car Company's donation enabled the Red Cross to launch Red Cross Instruction Car No. 1, a railroad car that would travel across the country serving as a classroom for first aid instruction. In 1911, during its first full year of service, this mobile first aid classroom traveled more than 25,000 miles delivering first aid instruction to over 15,000 individuals. The success of the Red Cross instruction car prompted the Red Cross to expand its program to include an additional two railroad cars.

Can you imagine receiving first aid instruction on a train car?

Click Here - for more interesting facts about the Red Cross.


Submitted by Rachael Garcia, Resource Development

Day at the Beach

Photo by: NVitkus

On Sunday I went to the beach in East Rogers Park with my family. It was a beautiful day and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

While at the beach I realized that I was paying closer attention to my surroundings than usual. I took notice of how many people were swimming, how many children were playing near the water and anyone who was jogging or walking on the shore.

I recently got certified in CPR and First Aid and everything that I learned in my class has been going through my head for the past couple of days.

In the class we learned how to look for signs of distress and how to recognize and act in an emergency situation.

Since the class, I have become more aware of what can happen and now know how I can help.

Keeping my eyes and ears open did not stop me from having a great time with my family and made me feel good that I had the knowledge to help someone if they need it! If you are interested in taking a CPR or First Aid class visit the "Take a Class" page on our website.

Become a Safer Sitter this Summer!

I have been babysitting for more than ten years. I began babysitting my three younger sisters when I was about 13 years old, and I continued to babysit throughout my college years. I can still remember the first little girls I babysat, D.D., Mary and Abby. I used to have so much fun with them playing games, watching movies, and ‘vegging’ out all night before I put them to bed. They went to my grade school, and their parents were friends with mine, so it made sense to have me babysit these girls.

I loved it. I loved every minute of babysitting with them. I got older, and soon the oldest daughter could watch the younger siblings, but I began babysitting for other children. It wasn’t until I was 16 and in health class that I took a CPR/First Aid class. I learned all the skills necessary to respond in an emergency situation … three years after I had first begun babysitting.

I think to myself now- how useful these skills would have been when I was babysitting at 13. I would have felt much more comfortable as a babysitter, and I am sure the parents would have as well. It is without a doubt that they trusted me, but I am sure as parents they would have felt a lot safer if they knew I had some kind of First Aid or CPR training.

I know I would have loved to take a babysitting class when I was younger, so that I could develop skills as a babysitter. It would have given me something to do during free time in the summer, and it would have made me feel a lot safer as a sitter.

And Parents wouldn’t you love for your children to take a babysitting (and CPR/First Aid) training course so that you can feel a sense of ease when you let them watch their siblings or sit for a friend’s child?

This summer American Red Cross of Greater Chicago is offering Babysitter BootCamps that will teach children the necessary Babysitting, CPR and First Aid skills needed to respond in an emergency situation.

Offered throughout the Chicagoland area, this is a perfect course for babysitters to receive the training necessary to become the best babysitter they can be.

Babysitters Come Out and learn how to become a Safer Sitter today!

To learn more the American Red Cross and how to become a Safer Sitter visit: www.chicagoredcross.org/babysit

A Fishy Tale

I debated with myself whether or not I ought to share this tragically ironic vignette. With the encouragement of Oana and Martha, who heartily insisted that this would make a nice parable for the blog, I acquiesced.

A few weeks ago, Martha had asked me to research and write a press release on whether or not there were a higher number of choking incidents during the Lenten season due to a supposed increase in fish consumption. A veteran fish eater and a fairly sensible adult, I could not imagine choking on my food. Baffled by the request, I fished around all over the World Wide Web to find statistics on hazardous foods. Indeed, fishbones where frequently mentioned along with the top ten most common edible choking culprits in children: hot dogs, candy, popcorn, peanuts/nuts, carrots, grapes, meat, apples, cookies, and peanut butter. Often times, kids have not learned how to chew their food properly. 

Consequently, I found that this was yet another important reason why knowing CPR and basic first aid is just so important. My research showed adults are just susceptible to choking hazards as children. And should a choking incident persist, there is little time to react when the victim loses consciousness. Scary, I thought, but what were the odds of this happening to me? Little did I know that a few days AFTER Lent was over, I would be in the emergency room “choking” on irony. 

Last week, I was hungry and in quite a rush when I sampled a curious Filipino fish dish that was laying out on the table. The first few bites were fine enough, but something went terribly wrong soon thereafter. To say the least, the fishbone was not going down very smoothly. I thought that if I continued to swallow, it would eventually pass, right? WRONG. It the irritation in my throat became more persistent and acute. My mother tried giving me a banana. The banana did not work for me either, Maria! Perhaps a scoop of rice? That did not work either. Water? No. I was able to breathe and talk, but only with increasing discomfort. 

Panicky over the lessons learned in writing that press release, I feared that the rest might come true! What if it led to choking? Then, there would only be little time to respond with CPR. Was my family prepared? My sister did not know CPR, but thankfully, my mother is a nurse. We went to her hospital’s ER to get this fishy problem squared away. Luckily, it did not escalate to where I was truly choking, but it was still uncomfortable. While swearing off fish for the time being may not be the most rational idea, I am very excited to be taking a first aid/CPR/AED course with my sister next week.

Mishaps happen, but being prepared is no accident. Take a class and be aware of the common foods and household objects that may be potentially hazardous to your family.

Christina Ponsaran, Marketing and Communications Intern