We’ll miss you, Steve Jobs

The topic of today’s elevator conversation is certainly, in most offices, the passing of Steve Jobs. We’re likely to see an article from every major news organization on the man’s life and vision, on his passion to change the world. There’s no denying his importance. In the late 1970s, when the energetic entrepreneur was first getting started, only a select few people understood the capacity of computers to change everything about our daily lives.

In his life of work, Jobs worked relentlessly to bridge the gap between human and machine—to make machines make our lives not just easier, but more interactive and more accessible. Thanks to one of his many infamous creations, the iPhone, we can look up restaurants or directions from just about anywhere. We can skype friends and family across the globe, far from a computer. We can get instant, up-to-date facts to resolve any bar dispute—from how many coins you can have and still not change a dollar, to who had the lowest E.R.A. in 1988, or the status of your neighbor’s relationship with that guy from the gym.

Of course, there are plenty of legitimately helpful uses for the iPhone as well. Let’s say, for example, disaster strikes. Who knows in what form—a flood, an earthquake, a tornado. You might lose your home, and need desperately to find a shelter. Well, there’s an app for that, too.

Or, if for some reason you don’t like the iPhone (we’re “don’t ask, don’t tell” on smart phone preference), there are some great apps for Android phones as well. Get an emergency first-aid & treatment guide to manage almost any medical emergency—useful to medical professionals from anywhere, even offline—or let Dr. Oz guide you through an emergency situation.

None of this would have been possible without Steve Jobs’ unique vision for changing the world. His work in developing the personal computer from a pipe dream to a device we carry in our pocket has allowed medical and emergency workers to perform their jobs quicker and more effectively. Computer systems now allow health care professionals to communicate patient information electronically, and every day we see new developments, things that will become essential to treatment and to emergency care. Jobs may have passed away, but his robust vision of change will not soon fade. Just see our blog post from two weeks ago: technology has become an integral part of health and emergency care, an integral part of nearly every facet of our lives, and we have few people to thank more than Steve Jobs.

Written by: Jonathan Bressler

At the Scene of a Home Fire

Almost everyday Chicagoans hear about a house fire in the news. It’s something that happens so often and impacts so few at a time that we tend not to give it too much attention. It’s disregarded as “another fire somewhere in the city”, but the story looks very different if you experience it personally. It’s not numbers you look at then, it’s the faces. And knowing that you’re standing in someone’s burned up home makes the fire very real and extremely scary.

Last week, I was on scene with Red Cross responders at a fire on Chicago’s south side. The blaze started at 1:30 p.m. in a two story home which housed a family of four. Within minutes, the flames got completely out of hand and swallowed up the entire structure. Three of the residents were not at home at the time, but unfortunately, the one person who was there, was trapped on the first floor bedroom. The firefighters soon came to his rescue and dragged him out, but not before he received serious burns and had inhaled a lot of the smoke.

When I arrived with the Red Cross disaster volunteer team, the house and the family were in a mess. The mother, Catalina, was desperately trying to salvage some items from the char ridden house. One of her sons, Marcelo, was in the hospital with serious injuries, and her other son, Jose, was pacing around the place with an expression of complete daze and confusion. The frame of the house was still standing but everything else was in ruins. There were big holes in the ceiling and the floors. The windows were out and all the furniture was badly burned.

The Red Cross volunteers sat the family down in their van, helped calm them down, listened to their story and comforted them as best as they could. They also provided them with assistance for food, shelter and clothing.

The immediate security that your donations provide to the victims of a fire help them recover from the shock of the incident, and gives them a warm and safe place to stay and collect their thoughts. Every little bit counts-ask someone who’s been through a fire.

Keep yourself and your family safe from fires- click here for some fire safety tips.

Written by Maliha Sadiq

Hometown Heroes

Working with the Red Cross, we constantly hear amazing stories of generosity. Sometimes, we hear stories that take generosity to a whole new level, whether they are related to donations, rescues, service or anything in between. Last Week, ABC Good Morning America published a story about a live kidney donation that was made possible through the wonders of one of our favorite social medias: Facebook.

When Jeff and Roxy Kurze found out that Jeff’s kidneys were failing, their world was shook. Hearing the bad news that it would take approximately five years for Jeff to receive an appropriate kidney, Roxy turned to social media. By simply posting a facebook status asking anyone to forward her information on live donors with type O blood, Roxy and Jeff received the miracle they had been desperately hoping for.

Fortunately for us at the Red Cross, we get the opportunity to publicly thank individuals who have made life changing differences in the lives of others. In fact, we have the honor of recognizing everyday local heroes once a year at our annual Heroes Breakfast, which is being held on April 14. The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago is honoring 18 heroes in 11 categories. One of which, is also a live kidney donor from Evanston, IL.

After hearing from his favorite cashier at the local Jewel Osco that her kidney was failing, Dan Coyne, a school social worker, offered his matching kidney to Myra de la Vega. The two did not know each other very well, but Dan felt compelled to help. The procedure took place last spring and Myra and Dan have since become family.

Along with Dan, we have an amazing group of individuals who have all done heroic acts over the past year. We have heroes ranging from military mothers, a World War II nurse, fire fighters to even a teenager who by the age of fifteen has already made an impact to many children living with epilepsy. Take a moment to learn more about each of our local heroes.

Guest blogs from (Red Cross) dogs

By Sanford Carlos
About me
Likes-peanut butter treats, short walks (prefer to be inside sitting on a warm lap)
Dislikes-having my teeth brushed

So we love each other alot, right? Would you help me if I needed you? Do you know how?

April is Pet First Aid month and the perfect time to talk about my somewhat sorted past. I’ve had a torn ACL that required surgery, eaten a rubber ball that blocked my digestive system and more. All pretty common stuff in the life of a 5-year old dog but still scary for my owners/parents/humans, take your pick on what you’d like to call them but they take care of me. I’m just glad they knew what to do when I was sick because they took an American Red Cross pet CPR/first aid class and could recognize when I was hurting.

Here’s a recent video about the classes (it shows the really cute pet manikins used for the training). The classes teaches how to recognize when your pet is in distress, how a two-liter bottle can save your pet’s life (hint: it makes the whole mouth to snout thing easier), how to do a simple splint, help a dog who is choking and more.

Here’s the page www.chicagoredcross.org/petsafety on all things pet safety (including a pet safety disaster checklist)Oh and this study from the LA Times shows most pet owners would perform CPR on their pet.

So would you take the course? Have you ever been in a situation when you wished you had? Comments from people and pets accepted.

Sanford Carlos’ human companion works at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago.

Hope is the Universal Cure

I’ve never been one to preach about looking for signs in your life. I don’t analyze a relationship and declare that there are "clear signs that we are meant to be". I don’t feel a connection when I talk about buying a pair of shoes and then suddenly my roommate buys them. I don’t read my daily horoscope and wait for the prediction to come true. That’s just a coincidence. But today, when I needed to find hope in a horrible disaster, I received a sign like no other.

As I stepped out of the Red Cross van today into the biting cold, I was laced with sprinkles of snowflakes. At first glance, it was hard to tell which house had been affected by the fire; many of the houses on the block were already boarded up and abandoned. However, once I rounded the van, there was no questioning where the disaster had hit.


The living room had exploded out onto the front yard. A charcoaled pull-out couch was propped up on the wire fence that gated the property and it looked as if it was about to pull the entire fence to the ground. The remains of a once cushioned chair sat in the middle of the debris with the springs jarring out the middle of the seat. I couldn’t help but imagine what the living room probably looked like a week ago – full of family and friends celebrating what they were thankful for. Now what was left? I stared up at the grey sky and felt the snow hit my face. A piece of siding was swinging back and forth in the wind towards the top of the house. Everything was completely dark inside. I found myself searching for some sign of hope amidst the horror in front of me. As I griped the top of the fence with my exposed fingers and felt the cold metal, I looked down upon what I would consider a miracle.

A heart. Besides the rubble of the fire, a heart lay neatly on the ground as a reminder that there is always hope even when everything looks dark. I wanted to take my newly found hope and share it with the owner of the house but she was too distraught to come out of her neighbor’s home. I am sure if she saw the heart in her front yard, she would smile a little bit because she would know that she is not alone in her journey to recovery.

Helping out those in the need, whether it is in your own community or around the world, can be hard, especially now when money is tight. But did you know that a $25 donation will supply 5 blankets to disaster victims? Maybe a blanket doesn’t seem as important as food or shelter, but as everyone in Chicago knows, today, December 1st, brought Chicago’s first snowfall. A warm blanket means a lot to a disaster victim, particularly on a cold Chicago winter day or night. We are ready to respond to a lot of fires in the Chicagoland area this winter. We know that there will be more than usual (3 to 4 every single day is average) because, for whatever reason, the Holidays bring fire season. While the Red Cross will respond and offer relief to the people affected by these disasters, we need help. Please think about donating to the Chicago Red Cross this holiday season, even if it is just a blanket.

I found hope today in the last place I expected to find happiness. The next time you doubt that there is a sign of light in the midst of darkness, take a breath, step back, and take another look. You may be surprised at what you find.