2007年VOA标准英语-Red Cross Agencies Share Lessons from Terrorist

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
12 February 2007
 
watch Red Cross Terrorism report

 
Emergency responders
Representatives from Red Cross agencies in Spain and Britain joined American colleagues in New York at a recent symposium¹ to share the lessons they have learned from dealing² with terrorist attacks in urban environments.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports from New York on how past experiences are helping³ preparations for future catastrophes⁵.

New York City.  September 11th, 2001.

The scenes of devastation⁶ reminded the international emergency response community that despite the best planning, urban catastrophe⁴ can happen anywhere… at any time.

 
Jonathan Edmonson
It is a lesson that Jonathan Edmonson learned the hard way on July 7th, 2005.  As a member of London's ambulance corps⁷, he was one of the first on the scene of the terrorist attacks on London's public transportation system. "I happened to be the on-call emergency planning manager on that day.  That's what my role was in the London ambulance service was -- emergency planning and preparedness, and that's what I'd been doing for about six years prior to this incident.  So gut⁸ feeling was the fact that this was potentially a terrorist attack, and I told my work colleague that I think that we're possibly under attack, and then started responding to that very first incident site."

Edmonson is now the Emergency Operations Manager with the British Red Cross.  He was hired in an effort to help change the way the Red Cross responds to emergencies like the July 7th attacks.

Edmonson attended the recent meeting in New York of Red Cross officials whose countries suffered terror attacks. The American Red Cross in Greater New York sponsored the event. 

 
Theresa Bischoff
Chief Executive Officer Theresa Bischoff explained that while this is the first such gathering⁹ of Red Cross agencies from the U.S., Britain, and Spain, they have been sharing information for more than five years. "We had many people who sought information from us after 9/11.  Now we have many cities who each have had their own experiences.  So we saw this as an opportunity to not just have New Yorkers sharing their experience but have a number of cities come together and each learn from the other."

Spanish Red Cross President Carlos Paya takes the lessons learned at the symposium to heart. 

The 2004 attacks on the transportation system in Madrid came more than two years after the 9/11 attacks on New York City… and few expected it.

Paya added, "The people never thought that it was going to happen to them.  And this is a mistake.  I think the lessons from 9/11 must be learned for everybody.  And now I think that they are more conscious about that."

More conscious and better prepared, thanks to meetings like this one in New York.  Meetings that help these agencies discuss issues they dealt with in each of their cities darkest hours.  Like not having enough training to prepare for the attacks.  Or the lack of communication between those responding to the crisis.

The chance to get these different Red Cross agencies together reveals that terrorism is not their only common bond.

"We certainly came into this symposium feeling that we had common issues around not having enough volunteers.  Not having enough people prepared in our cities," Bischoff adds. "But what we were able to do was really begin to share our strategies and our tactics around accomplishing the goals that we have."

Bischoff plans to turn some of the ideas discussed here into working plans in the coming month.

One immediate¹⁰ goal that the Greater New York Red Cross hopes to achieve is an increase in the number of volunteers.  Right now it has about 3,500.  Its goal is 10,000.

1 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。