Red Cross Nurse Returns from Helping Haiti Evacuees
  

Local volunteer provides care at airports in Orlando and Miami

(Winter Haven, FL) — When Red Cross nursing volunteer David Caporali deployed twice to care for evacuees from the Haiti earthquake, he learned many new things.

People rescued from rubble are grateful for everything, children with nothing will share food, and babies from a tropical country won’t eat applesauce. They will eat only what they know: Bananas, papaya, and mangos.

“I didn’t think of that,” Caporali said. “You learn, every time you go out, about the culture.”

Caporali deployed twice on a four-week period as a Red Cross nurse from the Polk County Chapter. He spent three days starting Jan. 19 at Sanford International Airport, then Feb. 8-15 at Miami International Airport.

In Orlando, he met elderly people grateful to be alive after being buried in rubble for days. They only wanted some hot food.

In Miami, Red Cross volunteers provided hundreds of orphans with diapers, toys, food, comfort, and room to play. Two little ones latched onto Caporali, “one on each finger,” and became fascinated with the automatic faucets in the bathrooms. He saw a group of children share a packet of crackers, older ones giving to younger ones. It reminded him of “We are the World.”

“The Red Cross takes care of the world’s children,” he said. “It’s a wonderful song and it pertains to the Red Cross.”

Caporali had a long history of helping people, and it started through the Red Cross. His received his first Red Cross training at 17 as an emergency medical technician. He later became a Red Cross Disaster Nurse and a Red Cross instructor at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing, Perdue University in Lafayette, IN.

His first Red Cross disaster deployment came in 1980, when a tornado hit Bloomington, IN. Caporali and an EMT took an ambulance into the field to bring patients to the hospital. Where debris blocked the road, they transferred patients to other ambulances. After that, while working in nursing, he volunteered as a Red Cross Health & Safety Instructor.

An avid Disney World fan, he’s been in central Florida since 1994, and retired from nursing about eight years ago.

The 2004 hurricanes had him helping others by grilling neighbors’ food before it thawed. When he heard about Haiti, he jumped at the chance to help again.

During this recent deployment, several people saw his Red Cross vest and wanted to thank him, donate, or know more.

One way he would like to see people help is through nursing. Local Red Cross chapters need licensed nurses as volunteers to help cover shelters in case Florida sees another series of hurricanes or any other large-scale disaster. He wants to attract students coming out of college, the way the Red Cross attracted him, but said nurses of any age can contribute.

“Retired staff would be great because they don’t have to work,” he said grinning. “They can give the time.”

*Caporali is available for interviews.  Please contact Phil Attinger to make any arrangements.

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The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.midfloridaredcross.org.