Hurricane Lee: A lifesaving deployment dinner

By Jennifer Costa, Regional Communications Director

Responding to a national disaster can be filled with surprises. When Sally Moore left her home in California bound for Maine last week, she thought Hurricane Lee would be the most eventful part of her deployment.

“I expected to be out helping people who were impacted by the storm,” Sally said.

She joined the American Red Cross 11 months ago. At home, she’s member of her local Disaster Action Team and regularly responds to home fires and flooding. Hurricane Lee was her first deployment. She was set to support sheltering efforts. What Sally didn’t expect was to save a life while she waited for the storm to make landfall. 

“We were just having dinner and I saw a mom in distress with her child,” she said.

Sally and two other Red Crossers were dining at a local restaurant, getting to know one another and bonding over Red Cross experiences when the unexpected happen. 

“As I looked over, I could see the girl putting her hands in her mouth to get whatever she was choking on,” she said.

In the immediate moments that followed, Sally noticed that other diners were looking at the girl, but no one was acting – unsure of exactly what was happening at the table. But Sally knew. She immediately recognized the warning signs and literally sprang into action, jumping over the Red Crosser sitting next to her to get to the choking child.

“I just came to her aid, went behind her and gave her a couple of abdominal thrusts and she was able to breathe. I don’t know if the food actually came out of her mouth, I just know that she was a lot more comfortable and was able to breathe again with the aid.”

Sally is a retired custody officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Throughout her career she gained extensive training in First Aid and CPR. While no one ever expects to need a hero, we’re sure glad this Red Crosser stepped up to answer the call when faced with an emergency. 

“I was very blessed to learn the skills and to be able to act as fast as I could. It was scary,” she admitted, “And once I sat down and recomposed, my hands were just shaking.”

This is not the first time Sally has put her lifesaving skills into action to save a stranger. Years ago, she needed to perform CPR on a child in a department store. She also aided her niece who was suffering from fibral convulsions. 

Her message to others is clear:

“CPR and First Aid are a must. Get the training because you never know when you are going to have to use it. If it’s not on someone in the public, it may be your family member. It’s a life or death situation,” she concluded.

Get Trained
Red Cross training gives people the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass.