However, last week’s deadly bomb attack in Baghdad really made me pause for thought. I had just interviewed one of our volunteers – Suhad Al-Naib – who together with her sister Soodad, had taken the brunt of a bomb blast in Baghdad while working at UN headquarters in 2003, during the war.

I was speaking to Suhad about their experience for a feature in Life, the British Red Cross’ staff and volunteers’ magazine.

Suhad and Soodad were lucky to survive the blast (23 people did not) although they were both badly injured. Suhad lost an eye and Soodad was scarred down one side of her body. Since then they have undergone 11 and 13 operations respectively.

They managed to flee the country and have since settled here. You’d think after such a traumatic experience and losing friends, their homes and lives in Iraq, they would feel bitterness or anger even. However, the most striking thing about Suhad was her positive attitude.

She told me: “Life is good. We are so lucky to be alive. I prefer to be optimistic and not look back. So what…I lost an eye. I still have another one.”

While trying to flee Iraq Suhad and Soodad contacted the Red Cross there for help (known there as the ‘Red Crescent’) and received much needed comfort. So when back in 2007, they walked past a Red Cross office in north London, they were keen to go in and offer their help as volunteers.

“We have managed to settle in the UK thanks to volunteering,” explained Suhad. “It’s the least we can do to give something back to thank the community for accepting us.”

You can hear more about their experience in this video.

Image © Harriet Armstrong

As a middle-aged under-achiever with a proud record of moderate accomplishment – a man whose get up and go got up and buggered off years ago – I must say I find these driven and focussed younglings vaguely terrifying. In short, I don’t trust them.

I’ll go further: I’m not entirely convinced that such frighteningly efficient young beings are entirely human. Do you remember Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the sci-fi film where a small town’s residents are replaced by ‘simulations’ grown from alien plant-like pods? The Pod People are perfect physical duplicates of the originals they replace, but utterly driven and unversed in normal human behaviour.

Maybe that’s what’s happening here. While the super-achievers sit in the boardroom upstairs, I keep expecting to open a basement door here at Red Cross headquarters and find a roomful of ‘originals’ – normal, sulking teenagers, eating crisps, watching bad telly and complaining about having to clean their rooms.

And yet the British Red Cross is teeming with such ‘simulation’ younglings. In June, I went to Solferino in Italy where thousands of Red Cross younglings from across the globe celebrated the Movement’s 150th anniversary. While I spent four days – seriously – working out that it was a foot-pump that operated the water-taps in the chemical loos, our youth delegation actually helped draft a junior declaration of human rights then marched to the UN in Geneva to present it.

And at last year’s Humanitarian Citizen Awards, Jojo Gojikian – a young social worker training in human rights law – was recognised for working tirelessly during what little free time he had to help child refugees and young asylum seekers. What, does he not own a television? A ‘simulation’ if ever I saw one.

So, if you know a Red Cross person aged under 25 who is driven, has strong opinions about moral issues and wants to change the world for the better, chances are they’ll just be one of many excellent volunteers. But keep an eye out for any alien pods, just in case.

Photo: changó

Of course, the British Red Cross is taking part in this exciting venture. This Friday, a senior management team meeting with a difference will be held at our UK office. A group of enthusiastic young volunteers will replace all the senior managers and come together to discuss issues around young people and the Red Cross generally. Personally, I feel that getting young people involved in this way is a really positive step forwards to attracting a new generation of volunteers (any young people reading this – sign up now!).

I’m lucky enough to be travelling up to London on Friday to take on the role of our South Eastern director. I’m really looking forward to meeting other young people and sharing the wealth of ideas and experiences that we will bring. This will be a management meeting with a difference!

Two days ago, Dan arrived in Indonesia to take over from the first team of emergency logistics experts the British Red Cross sent to the earthquake zone. Dan’s leading a team making sure relief supplies get to the area, and he’s also handing over the operation to the Indonesia Red Cross.

My colleague Mark South just talked to him to find out how it’s going. Have a listen and find out more about our Asia Pacific Disasters Appeal.

Students at Edinburgh University First Aid Society are planning to carry out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a dummy.

For two whole days.

Anyone who’s done a first aid course before will know what a challenge this is! For those that haven’t, CPR involves pushing on someone’s chest if they are not breathing. You need to depress the chest around 4-5cm each time. This requires quite a bit of force! Normally on our first aid courses we ask people to do CPR for around 3 minutes (not 2 days!).

Of course whilst they do this they’ll be raising valuable funds for the Red Cross. They also plan to teach members of the public lifesaving skills and spread the message about the importance of first aid.

Personally though, I think I’ll stick to jumping out a plane…

You four were randomly selected to each receive one of our bags. We’re sending you an email from socialmedia@redcross.org.uk asking for your mailing address.

Disappointed you didn’t win? You can still buy them from our online shop! They’re really inexpensive and great for the big shopping season.

Here’s a few first aid tips for you to remember, remember on the 5th of November (and beyond). It’s worth baring these in mind as you get set to have fun this Thursday and beyond – particularly as more children then adults are hurt each year in Bonfire Night related incidents.

A common firework-related injury to be on the lookout for are burns. Simply cool the affected area for at least 10 minutes will cold water. Severe cases – including all those involving children, or burns that are larger than one per cent of the casualty’s body (top tip – the palm of their hand equals one per cent) should go to hospital. If in doubt, get them to hospital anyway. This video shows you how to treat burns.

What are good sources of cold water? Well, in the garden, I’m sure many of you will have hose pipes. You should have a bucket of water on standby too. But if you’re out and about at a fireworks display, a cold drink will do until a better source can be sought, as my blogging colleague Mark noted on his first aid tip laden story on the British Red Cross website.

If you are sampling the delights of fireworks at an organised event, then they should be supported by some event first aid cover. If you do get hurt, go and seek the help of the experts.

Burns aren’t the only thing that can happen when watching fireworks, though, so it pays to be prepared. Have a first aid kit and warm blankets on standby – in case people start feeling cold – and enjoy the show!

Fireworks image © James Jordan

It’s true. Cocking a leg at the notion that only humans can be effective fundraisers, our canine friends have been helping raise money for decades now. As far back as the First World War, Red Cross pets were regularly stationed outside theatres and pubs with collection boxes round their backs. Individually, some star pooches raised hundreds of pounds. And, in truth, it irks me that they don’t get more credit for it.

Sure, there are lots of famous dogs around today – Barrack Obama’s ‘first puppy’, Bo, for example; and that selection of rat-like fuzzballs always peeking out of Paris Hilton’s handbags. (At the time of writing, Madonna hasn’t yet decided to adopt a pooch – but surely it’s only a matter of time before she’s off on a mercy mission somewhere to ‘save’ a disinterested Mexican Hairless.)

However, none of these dogs actually do very much except flounce about looking cute. And I’d like to make a song and dance about the Red Cross canines who are actually out there doing good work. If you own – or know of – a dog that’s helping the Red Cross, do let me know.

Impressively, fundraising isn’t the only thing that Red Cross dogs do. In America, the improbably named Fidos for Freedom provide comfort and reassurance to everyone they meet – the old, the young and the wounded. The Italian Red Cross already routinely uses Newfoundland dogs for water rescue work.

Here at home, the British Red Cross boasts Loki, the wonder rescue dog (pictured) who works with our swift water rescue team in the Highlands. And my fellow blogger Brad tells me of a partially-sighted Red Cross fundraiser in Hertfordshire whose tail-wagging guide dog is always guaranteed to bring in a few extra pounds during collections.

As fundraisers start to think seriously about next year’s Red Cross Appeal Week, I wonder if more serious consideration should be given to the potential role of four-legged fundraisers. After all, there’s nothing to lose, and we could winalot.

So chums, a future where Red Cross dogs are raising serious funds on behalf of the Red Cross? It’s not an idea to be sniffed at…

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the British Red Cross is ready to respond to disasters around the world.

As well as my full-time job as international writer, I’m a fully trained member of our logistics emergency response unit (ERU). This means each year I spend a month on-call, bags packed ready to fly out to a disaster anywhere in the world to help distribute emergency relief.

This summer, I spent a week in a muddy field taking part in a simulated-emergency. Everybody on the ERU roster does this once a year to make sure our skills are kept up-to-date.

One afternoon as the rain battered down on our tent (yes that’s what you can hear in the interview – it’s not just a bad quality recording!) I took some time out to catch up with Ina Bluemel, one of our most experienced delegates. Listen to the podcast and find out about flying into a hurricane and living on adrenaline.

You can also listen to the first in this series of podcasts exploring the role of our emergency response unit here.

Transcript for logistics of emergency response part two:

Sarah Oughton: Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the British Red Cross is ready to respond to disasters around the world. The organisation has two specialist emergency response units – one that provides support in logistics, the other in mass sanitation.

I’m Sarah Oughton and I’m talking to Ina Bluemel – one of our ERU delegates – who has worked in many disasters in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

SO: Can you tell me about being on call for the ERU? How does that work and how often are you on call?

IB: Well I’m on call a couple of times a year. For me it literally means that I’m at home and have my things packed, my phone in my pocket the whole time, ready to deploy as soon as something happens. We theoretically talk about six hours but I’ve already had the experience that I’ve been given three hours, so it is situation dependent. Anything between a couple of hours or a couple of days between the first phone call and actually sitting in a plane going out to a disaster has all happened.

SO: So can you tell me about one of the deployments you’ve been on?

IB: With the logistics ERU I’ve been deployed to Turks & Caicos Islands in the Hurricane Ike and Hannah last year. We flew out after Hannah and before Ike.

SO: So how did you feel flying out because that’s quite an unusual situation in that you were actually flying into a hurricane, usually you arrive after the disaster, but you were flying in as it was happening as it were?

IB: I think there was no room for panic or fear or concerns. I just knew that I wanted to get there as quickly as possible because I knew that the people have already been hit by Hannah and were in urgent need of people who can support them.

SO: And can you describe me the situation when you arrived on the ground?

IB: Well people had already gathered in shelters because we arrived literally 20 hours before the second hurricane came in. So having learnt from Hannah, people were already on alert and a lot more flexible as to leave the houses and go into hibernation, for the vivid experience was still there. So we joined the national disaster response team of the TCI government and together with the Red Cross colleagues that have been on the ground, the branch people, we’ve just tried to fine tune a little bit looking into evacuation procedures in case we get struck, then just live through the hurricane.

Turks and Caicos was a bit tricky because we normally work closely together with other emergency response units and you can imagine that the hurricane has put a lot of people at distress, houses have been destroyed and they were lacking the means to compensate for the losses instantly. So normally you would have someone with adequate knowledge to assess their needs and inform us as logisticians what would be needed, and then we would be arranging for those items to be transported and make sure they receive, they get distributed, they get handed over to the relief team that would arrange for the distribution. But as the situation wasn’t perceived as bad as it turned out to be after two hurricanes we were seeing a lot of damage and needs. We actually had to compensate for the lack of relief ERU which made us do two jobs; assessing the needs, deciding with the beneficiaries of the local branch what we would purchase to support and then purchase and arrange for the transport. That was pretty challenging.

SO: So can you tell me a bit more about other disasters that you’ve been involved in and how you’ve helped in the emergency response?

IB: On the logistics side, I’ve covered the Cyclone Nargis and the Turks and Caicos Island’s situation with the hurricanes. We also covered with the mass sanitation ERU lately the floods in Namibia, the cholera response in Zimbabwe and the big earthquake in 2008 in China.

SO: Can you tell me a bit more about the mass sanitation ERU? What does it mean, what does that involve?

IB: The mass sanitation emergency response unit covers the needs that are related to hygiene related diseases. It covers two components, which are the hardware component – building latrines, making sure there is drainage, it can go as bad as supporting body disposal, and then there’s hygiene promotion, which aims at increased understanding of the appropriate behaviour in an emergency.

SO: You must see some pretty distressing situations, how do you cope with that?

IB: It’s pretty simple for me, if I can not go I get very stressed, if I can go that is a big relief for me. So being able to contribute is what keeps me wanting to do it. What I see affects me on several levels, but I have a good family structure, I go to the beach a lot, I make sure that it’s balanced, sometimes it’s tough. But as I said, I live off the fact that I can go and contribute and I find it difficult not to.

SO: Does anybody stick in your mind, any of the people you’ve helped in Zimbabwe or other deployments?

IB: It’s my general impression of the volunteerism of the Red Cross that always touches me. It’s amazing, I keep meeting people who do this from the bottom of their heart without ever requesting anything back. And coming from a professional point of view where I earn my living with this I have a different angle to them and I sometimes envy their motivation over mine. It always gets me when I see someone like Andrew, a volunteer in Zimbabwe who just puts his support over everything else, he just kept on prioritising the needs of the people in his area. That I find quite amazing.

SO: What for you is the best thing about working on the ERU?

IB: I know my stuff and I like working with the confidence that I understand the system. I can push for things, I can push very hard and that’s what I love doing. It’s the fact that I can plan something today and I turn it into good tomorrow, might even turn it into good today. I get punished if I make mistakes straight away but I also get rewarded if I do it right very quickly.

SO: Is it a very stressful environment to work in?

IB: Oh yes. It’s stressful, but the stressfulness is something that has you on adrenaline most of the time so you don’t realise in the first couple of weeks that you’re actually working 20-hour days. So it is stressful but it is challenging and fun.

SO: For further information visit redcross.org.uk/eru and to find out more about the recruitment process email: recruitment@redcross.org.uk

Image © Sho Huang/IFRC

I was greeted on the steps by the Imam (religious leader) who was to guide myself and the other participants on whistle-stop tour of Islam. The Imam defined himself as second generation British Muslim hailing from Dewsbury in Yorkshire. He embraced the task of guiding us to a greater understanding of his faith; telling the story of Islam in the UK aided by anecdotes from his family’s experiences as they have changed through the generations.

Throughout the day we explored many of the assumptions that are held by many non-Muslims in the UK about Islam and those people who follow this faith. One of the most important lessons that I learnt during the day was the need to challenge assumptions and the engage in dialogue with those people whose background, beliefs and experiences may be different to your own.

The highlight of my day was attending midday prayer inside the mosque; a true privilege. The aim of the day was to break down boundaries; the experience of being allowed to witness this act of worship by the local community achieved this for me. Muslim prayer epitomises exotic difference: with the call to prayer sung out, the use of prayer mats, the turning towards Mecca and the prostrate position that is assumed. To witness this, and have the various elements of the faith explained and shared with us was a very humbling experience.

When I told the young refugees with whom I work, many of whom are Muslim, where I had spent the day on Monday they were thrilled. They were so pleased to find someone seeking to understand a little better something that is hugely important in their lives. They were eager to talk about what I had seen done and learnt, what I had found strange and what I liked. Sharing, communicating and seeking to understand that which is different form the basis of living harmoniously with others; ideas we promote in the project and indeed underpins much of the work of the Red Cross.

Day of the Disappeared: Miana’s story

As you watch boxes of food, blankets and other life-saving items being distributed, have you ever wondered exactly how they got there so quickly?

This is the first in a series of podcasts exploring the role of our logistics emergency response unit and how it responds to international emergencies.