American Red Cross promotes disaster preparedness among seniors
The American Red Cross Puerto Rico Chapter has partnered with MCS Foundation and TransCita, the transportation services company, to promote disaster preparedness among seniors for the upcoming hurricane season.
Through this partnership, 5,000 seniors who receive transportation services from TransCita will receive a disaster and emergency preparedness booklet from the American Red Cross. In addition, 400 TransCita vehicles around the island will broadcast Red Cross disaster preparedness education messages through their audio system, the nonprofit announced.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with MCS Foundation and TransCita that allows us to deliver our message in targeted locations where we can reach the elderly population,” said Lee Vanessa Feliciano, regional executive of the American Red Cross Puerto Rico Chapter.
“At the American Red Cross, we strive to communicate our preparedness message to this population, as past experiences have shown us that they are among the most vulnerable during a natural disaster,” she said.
Some factors to consider regarding preparedness for natural disasters among older adults are:
- Older adults may have more chronic conditions and medication-related concerns;
- They may be more dependent on assistive devices, such as walkers and eye glasses; and caregiver support; and,
- Living in isolation also makes them more vulnerable.
“This alliance provides an innovative way to spread the message of emergency preparedness in a format where you keep the audience captive, listening to valuable information during the time it takes them to get to their medical appointment or run their health errands,” said Elba Rivera, executive director of the MCS Foundation.
As part of the partnership, MCS Foundation donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross Puerto Rico Chapter to the financial assistance fund to help families served by the American Red Cross when they suffer disasters. MCS Foundation also supports the American Red Cross Sound the Alarm campaign focused on home fire prevention, as fires affect the elderly the most.
Meanwhile, Jorge Ruiz Roman, CEO of TransCita, said, “we have been providing transportation to health services and other destinations for more than 12 years. We’re extremely proud to belong to this partnership with the American Red Cross to deliver preparedness messaging during a natural disaster to our passengers.”
