Main aim of the charity
Throughout its 75-year history, LRC has always provided independent, neutral and impartial humanitarian aid.
The Lebanese Red Cross has been assigned by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health as the main and only responder and means of transport of the COVID-19 cases. During this period in specific, and in addition to the continuous help to respond to the COVID crisis, the bulk of LRC’s efforts will be to provide direct, unconditional financial support to up to 10,000 of the most affected families by the 4th of August blast which killed more than 190 persons, wounded at least 6000 persons, and destroyed a significant part of the capital. This effort is currently being set up and will include door to door assessments of the needs, selection of the most vulnerable affected families, distribution of aid, and then post-distribution monitoring to see what we can improve and address any challenges that will come up.
In addition to providing the usual ambulance, blood and primary health services across all areas of Lebanon, below are some of the figures related to the LRC crisis response efforts:
•3,878 COVID missions completed
•Treatment and transport of more than 2000 wounded
•Evacuation of damaged hospitals
•Distribution of more than 1200 blood units to hospitals
•40,815 door-to-door assessment completed
•7,092 families receiving direct assistance.
As always, LRC will always seek to provide help to the most vulnerable according to the needs and disregarding any other factor such as, but not limited to, race, gender, religion or political beliefs.
How the employee got involved and why
We've all been in situations where someone we know needed urgent medical intervention or where we met an accident on our way. I've always had that rush to help people but never had the knowledge or experience to handle it. Same rush of adrenaline ran through my blood whenever I saw an ambulance passing by. Asking and researching about it, being an EMT requires a great commitment in terms of time, energy, dedication and consistency. My only challenge was time until 2018! That was the year when I first had the chance to make the biggest investment in my passion of helping humanity.
When you make a way for the ambulance to pass through, when you donate your money to support the cause and even when you pray and wish well for these people is not enough, you just have to go the extra mile and be one of them. This is when I understood what "Beyond the Call of Duty" truly means.
What work does the employee do for charity?
Volunteering as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with the Lebanese Red Cross.
After too many months of extensive theoretical and practical trainings, boot camps and workshops in First Aid and First Response, one is eligible to take exams to qualify and be a First Responder in the First Aid and Emergency Services Squads. Once there, and after one year of experience and continuous trainings, other qualifying exams are taken to finally be an EMT.
The journey doesn't stop there! Neither do the trainings, the workshops nor the continuous updates and refreshers on all medical, technical and field management skills. All of this, blended with a great passion of helping people in need of basic health and life support lead me to be a Chief of Mission and a Squad/Team Leader in the Red Cross station of Beirut.
With all what Lebanon is going through and no matter how major the catastrophes are, if anyone thinks that this passion fades away with time or with difficult and harsh situations or with heartbreaking moments, I say that these make it grow much bigger and make me go stronger in what I do. It's been more than two years for me providing first aid and emergency medical services to anyone in need on the Lebanese territory and nothing can stop me as a volunteer in the Lebanese Red Cross from adapting and pursuing my cause. Responding to COVID-19 emergencies at a time and to events of major riots and civil unrest events at another time is just a small contribution to humanity and human life.