One of our local volunteers has recently returned from providing aid to evacuees at two Florida airports.
Red Cross nursing volunteer David Caporali deployed twice in a four-week period to care for evacuees from the Haiti earthquake. He spent three days (starting Jan. 19) at Sanford International Airport, then Feb. 8-15 at Miami International Airport.
He said every disaster deployment is different, but one thing that’s always the same is that you learn something new.
He learned that people rescued from rubble are grateful for everything. Some children with nothing will share everything, especially food. Also, he learned that babies from a tropical country won’t eat applesauce; They eat what they know, such as Bananas, papaya, and mangos.
In Orlando, he met elderly people, some as old as 105, who were grateful to be alive after being buried in rubble for days. Some only wanted hot food and other basic comforts, like drinking water from a glass, not a bottle.
In Miami, Caporali said Red Cross volunteers provided hundreds of orphans with diapers, toys, food, comfort, and room to play — and provided caregivers a much-needed break. Two little ones latched onto him, “one on each finger,” and quickly became fascinated with the automatic faucets in the bathrooms. He saw a group of children share a packet of crackers, older ones giving to younger ones. It reminded him of “We are the World.”
“The Red Cross takes care of the world’s children,” he said. “It’s a wonderful song and it pertains to the Red Cross.”
Caporali has had a long history of helping people. He got his first Red Cross training at 17 as an emergency medical technician. He later became a Red Cross Disaster Nurse and a Red Cross instructor at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing, Perdue University in Lafayette, IN.
His first Red Cross disaster deployment was in 1980. A tornado hit Bloomington, IN, so he and an EMT took an ambulance into the field to bring patients to the hospital. Wherever debris blocked the road, they transferred patients to other ambulances.
For many years after that, while working in nursing, he volunteered as a Red Cross Health & Safety Instructor.
During the 2004 hurricanes he helped neighbors by grilling their food before it spoiled. When he heard about Haiti, he jumped at the chance to help again.
During this recent deployment, several people saw his Red Cross vest and wanted to thank him, give to the Red Cross, or just know more.
He hopes licensed nurses will volunteer with the Red Cross — to help cover shelters when Florida sees another series of hurricanes or any other large-scale disaster.
Students coming out of college are good candidates, he said. That’s how the Red Cross attracted him, but nurses of any age can help.
“Retired staff would be great because they don’t have to work,” he said grinning. “They can give the time.”



