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| By Katelyn Gendron-List, Staff Writer WEST SPRINGFIELD When torrential rains hit the plains states of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas late last month the Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter began seeking volunteers to aid those in the flooded areas. It only took one phone from the Red Cross for Angela Orlich, of West Springfield, a medical assistant and member of the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the Red Cross, to volunteer for deployment to the latest declared disaster area. Orlich stated that she was originally deployed to Utah on July 5, to aid those who had evacuated their homes because of wildfires. She has since been sent to the latest declared disaster area in Coffeyville, Kan., which was flooded with 30 feet of water and later plagued by an oil refinery spill. "This is what I can do to help my country," Orlich said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "There are a lot of homes that were devastated. People have lost their homes and the only thing that they have to evacuate with are the clothes on their backs." Orlich works as a Health Services volunteer for the Red Cross and has spent the past week with flood victims in need of medical treatment and prescriptions they lost during the disaster. "A lot of people are sick down here," Orlich said. "There are a lot of diabetics. We call the pharmacies to make sure that they are on insulin [or other medications] and are able to get the insulin straight from the pharmacy." According to Denise Burke, Health Services Supervisor for the Red Cross in Coffeyville, and a registered nurse who has been supervising Orlich for the past week, Coffeyville is the hardest hit area thus far. "It's a small town with no one around and no businesses are open," Burke said. "You'll see some residents coming and going. Every building has an oil line around it where the oil had leaked and when the water receded the oil was left." Burke went onto add that she and Orlich have anywhere between five and 10 tasks to complete each day for Health Services, and that services within a Red Cross disaster area can see upwards of 80 clients per day. When asked about what it has been like to work with Orlich, Burke said, "It's been a pleasure. She is very energetic and it's hard to keep up with her. She jumps right into any task." Orlich stated that she has been volunteering with the Red Cross since she saw the devastation that Hurricane Katrina caused to Louisiana in 2005. "When Katrina happened I signed up [for the Red Cross] and I spent three weeks in New Orleans as a shelter manager," Orlich said. "It was like a ghost town. There were a lot of devastated homes. Cars were on the roofs and you're walking around in muck." Orlich was also deployed to Miami after Hurricane Ernesto hit Florida in 2006. She stated that while her employer has let her leave for this deployment, she also leaves behind her parents. Marina Christodlous, Orlich's mother told Reminder Publications that while she worries about her daughter because of the unpredictability of disaster areas, she could not be prouder of her. Currently Orlich is in school to become a registered nurse and hopes to work for the national Red Cross later on in her life. She said that she is pursuing another deployment at the end of August with the coming of hurricane season. |