HELPING NEIGHBORS

Always ready to help others

Man leads local Red Cross disaster response team

By Stephanie Koons

Editor's note: "Helping Neighbors" features an exceptional volunteer in Centre County. To nominate someone for a future story, e-mail cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.

Submitted Photo

Charles Poust, who's on the Disaster Action Team for the Centre Communities Chapter of the American Red Cross. The team responds to fires and accidents and provides food, shelter and other accommodations for victims. Submitted Photo

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As captain of an emergency response team for the Centre Communities Chapter of the American Red Cross, Charles Poust, of Pine Grove Mills, is prepared to respond to any type of disaster at any time of the day or night.

Poust, 61, has served on the Disaster Action Team of the Red Cross for the past 12 years. The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, provides relief to victims of disaster and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

The local Disaster Action Team, which has about six members, responds to fires in the area and takes care of the immediate needs of the victims, including food, shelter, clothing and prescriptions.

The Red Cross also puts victims up in hotels if necessary, and provides food and beverages to rescue workers.

“It’s nice to be able to help people who are in trouble,” said Poust, who is retired from Penn State and works as a maintenance engineer for the Sleep Inn in State College.

In addition to leading the Disaster Action Team, Poust also serves on the Red Cross’s Armed Forces Emergency Services Team, which acts as a link between members of the armed forces and their families. In the event of an emergency or death, a service member’s family can contact a local Red Cross chapter.

A caseworker will call to verify the situation and relay the message to the proper military authorities, so the service member can return home. Poust is on call for AFES every Monday for 24 hours.

“I think Charlie is very committed to helping other people,” said Virginia Brown, executive director of the Centre Communities Chapter. “I think he does what he does because he is an individual who is totally concerned about the welfare of others.”

Each member of the Disaster Action Team is on call for one month at a time on a three-month rotation, Poust said, although the person on duty often calls another team member to accompany him to a disaster site. While the Red Cross’ main office responds to emergencies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the disaster team is in charge while the office is closed. In the event of a fire, he said, a fire chief will call the team, which will respond as quickly as possible.

“The hardest part is probably seeing the people in distress without a house or without a roof over their heads,” Poust said.

While the fires don’t often result in deaths, he said, they do happen occasionally. People can also be very distraught over losing their pets, he added. Psychiatrists and psychologists are called in to work with the Red Cross in more tragic situations.

The most serious incident Poust has been involved in, he said, was the massive pileup on Interstate 80 near Loganton in 2001 that resulted in six deaths and more than 40 injuries. The Disaster Action Team served food to victims and rescue workers from a Centre Area Transportation Authority bus, he said.

The team also set up shelter in Bellefonte Elementary School for those left homeless by the Bellefonte Academy fire in 2004, Poust said, and uses Lambert Hall in Bellefonte as an emergency shelter.

For the most part, Poust said, the people who the Disaster Action Team help show great appreciation for its efforts.

“That’s the part that’s good about doing what we do,” he said.

Stephanie Koons can be reached at 235-3927.