In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as information began to flow into Canada about how serious this disease might become, Alberta Health Services started ramping up their testing capacity. Some 10,000 kilometres away in Southeast Asia, the Philippine Red Cross took notice.
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Lucia Lasso is one of two full-time Head of Emergency Operations with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which means she’s almost always thinking about disasters. But even when she’s not actively engaged in an operation, she spends her time thinking about how the Red Cross can respond to emergencies more effectively. This includes encouraging other women to aspire to positions of leadership.
As a COVID-19 outbreak in late April and early May 2021 impacted Iqaluit, Mayor Kenny Bell knew that help was needed. The Canadian Red Cross was brought to Iqaluit in mid-May to provide additional support to a homeless shelter in the city but, by the time the team left, they had also done Epidemic Prevention and Control (EPC) assessments for 13 organizations across the city.
Exactly 25 years ago, during the night of Friday, July 19 to Saturday, July 20, 1996, heavy rain triggered floods in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, threatening the entire region and causing one of the largest evacuations in the history of Quebec. Thousands of people, helpless in the face of the tragedy, braved the torrential floods that swept everything away.
Red Cross volunteer David Summerby-Murray never expected a need to apply his expertise regarding infectious diseases in a place like Nova Scotia, but that quickly changed with the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a young child in Canada, Rateb always acknowledged that his internal calling was to help those in need. Following his parents’ immigration to the Middle East, Rateb obtained his medical degree in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Rateb saw the opportunity to directly apply his training and skills through the greater good of humanitarian work, and joined the Canadian Red Cross to help on the front lines.
Statistics show that only one out of three Canadians will take steps to be prepared for a disaster - which means the majority of us are not prepared in case of emergency. This could be for few reasons so we want to dispel five common disaster myths.
In late June, a plane full of firefighters touched down in Sudbury to help protect communities in Northern Ontario. Shortly after the team stepped off the aircraft, the Canadian Red Cross immediately set to work, ensuring their task would not be more difficult than usual.