Scott Jarrett

"Emergencies happen, no matter what you do," Scott Jarrett told Putnam Rotarians today. "At the Red Cross we can give you that training, to help you be prepared."

Jarrett, CEO for Central West Virginia Red Cross, said that Americans were great at rebuilding and recovery from disasters, but we have a poor record for advance preparation.

"When you take a CPR class, you'll learn the compressions," he said, "but what we're trying to do is give you the confidence to use those skills in an emergency."

He gave several personal examples of lives saves and tragedies avoided by Red Cross preparation.

"I received a letter in my office a couple of weeks ago from a nurse in St Albans," Jarrett told the group. "In 2008 she was awakened by a pain in her throat. She thought it was indigestion. She took Tums. She called 9-1-1. She could barely breathe.

"When she arrived at the ER she was asked by one of the doctors how she knew she was having a heart attack. She responded, 'It was a test question.'

"'Our test talks about in first aid how to identify the symptoms and signs of a heart attack.' So the doctor was puzzled. She said, 'No, it was on the test. I knew what it was because of my Red Cross training.'"

Two and a half years ago, Jarrett's wife was pregnant. "She had a seizure. It came out of the blue.

"My wife didn't smoke," he said. "She wasn't overweight. She took the vitamins. She did everything right.

"She went to the emergency room. She had another seizure. My little girl was born -- two pounds, fifteen ounces.

"When my wife had the seizure, I knew something was the matter. But I had taken my first aid class. I knew what to do.

"We were living in Putnam County at the time. A thunderstorm went through.

"It was October 28, 2006. The power was out. But I had my flashlight, my disaster kit. Those were all things I had learned at that training.

"My little girl is beautiful now. My girl is wonderful. My wife is wonderful.

"She did everything right, but things still went wrong.

"Emergencies happen, no matter what you do. At the Red Cross we can give you that training, to help you be prepared."

Jarrett noted that three members of Putnam Rotary were serving on the local advisory board for the Central West Virginia chapter. "Red Cross is strong in West Virginia because of the volunteer leadership," Jarrett told the group "We can be whatever we want to be. We have a wonderful community here and Red Cross is a part of that."