Red Cross Blogs

Snow country for old men

By Mark Cox
December 18, 2009 at 1:53 pm

Snow. It’s a bit cold, innit, particularly on Cox’s ageing bones. As Danny Glover puts it in all the Lethal Weapon movies: ‘I’m getting too old for this sh-ivery weather.’ (Or something like that.)

This morning, I genuinely begrudged sticking my snug toes out of the cosy bed and, if it weren’t for some elementary mathematics (work = money = rent and heating bills), I’d have happily stayed under wraps for the day.

But then, I am a mere mortal made of ordinary stuff. While I was skulking under the covers, Red Cross emergency volunteers were already out and about in the freezing weather doing all kinds of wonderfully helpful things.

So, bunch of little old ladies feeling the chill in a care home after a power cut? No worries. Cue volunteers armed with temporary gas heaters. Dozens of people left without power in Sheerness, Kent perhaps?  Not a problem. Cue volunteers in 4×4 vehicles ploughing through treacherous conditions to reach them, then going door-to-door offering hot drinks and extra help for the most vulnerable.

Even worse, imagine a freezing caravan park also struck suddenly by a power cut in Allhallows, Kent – how much fun would that not be? Cue volunteers (doubtless feeling the chill themselves) touring the site and handing out hot drinks to grateful elderly residents.

In fact, within hours of the snow falling, the Red Cross had around 30 volunteers stomping through the freezing snow  in the south east alone. And the response will only grow as things worsen. I remember when the last big freeze struck in January earlier this year – you could hardly move on the snow-clogged roads for Red Cross volunteers in 4×4 vehicles keeping up a round-the-clock response. It’s the same every time. You can always rely on them.

As for me? I’ll be back home under the covers with three hot water bottles as soon as work finishes. And I’m not coming back out till Spring.

---

Comments (2) »

---

Tags: Emergencies, emergency response, snow, volunteer

The Red Cross values comments both complimentary and critical. However, we will not tolerate the following: aggressive or personal criticism of the blogger, breach of copyright, obscene, defamatory, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive or likewise objectionable comments.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Emergencies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

---