American Red Cross to Honor Six at Annual Meeting for Lifesaving Efforts
News Release: September 27, 2002
Contact: Janice Osborne, Manager-Media & Community Affairs
(610) 865-4400, ext. 262
The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley will bestow national and local awards on six Lehigh Valley residents at its 85th annual meeting to be held Monday, Sept. 30, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m at Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem. Special guest speaker William V. Lewis Jr., member of the national Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, will discuss the new leadership and direction of the Red Cross.
“I’m delighted to be asked to be a participant in this year’s annual meeting of the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley which is celebrating its 85 years of outstanding service to families,” Lewis said. “It’s particularly heartwarming that at this event we have the opportunity to award and thank six local individuals who are responsible for saving a life. What a great testimony to the value of Red Cross training.”
Lewis was elected to the national Board of Governors of the American Red Cross in 1999. He serves as vice chair of the Finance Committee and as a member and former vice chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. He is also a member of the American Red Cross History Museum Advisory Council.
Lewis is vice president and registered investment advisor with Merrill Lynch in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He received a Master of Public Administration Degree and a Doctor of Arts Degree from Lehigh University, where he held the Parkhurst Fellowship.
American Red Cross awards include the Certificate of Merit and Certificate of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action, both of which are lifesaving awards; and the Clara Barton Honor Award, in recognition of superior volunteer leadership.
The Certificate of Merit, the highest award given by the American Red Cross to an individual or team of individuals who saves or sustains a life by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Health and Safety Services course, will be presented to two individuals in one lifesaving incident.
Certificate of Merit winners
To be honored are Jodi Andrew of Lehighton and Lori Spallone of Nesquehoning. Both were trained in American Red Cross First Aid and CPR.
In June 2001, Andrew and Spallone, direct care workers for the former Carbon County ATF, saved the life of a woman who began to choke while eating lunch.
Trained in American Red Cross first aid and CPR, they rushed to the woman’s aid and encouraged her to continue to cough. The woman stopped coughing and her face started to turn blue. Andrew used her fingers to remove food that was obstructing her airway. The woman began to cough again and breathe freely.
The Certificate of Merit bears the signatures of the President of the United States, who is the Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, and David McLaughlin, Chairman of the American Red Cross.
Certificate of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action:
The second lifesaving incident took place in July 2002. Being awarded the Certificate of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action are Susanne Amici of Whitehall and Mary Smith of Allentown.
Amici is a licensed practical nurse and Smith is a support counselor. Both work for Wydnor Group Home in Bethlehem, a facility operated by LifePath.
On leaving her tour of nursing duty at the Wydnor Home, Amici looked into the living room and observed an elderly man sitting in front of the television with a fixed stare. When she went to check on him, she found him to be unresponsive… no pulse, no breathing sounds.
9-1-1 was called. Amici and Smith administered CPR for 10 minutes until EMS arrived and took over. The man was then transported to St. Luke’s Hospital.
Certificate of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action
The third incident occurred in August 2002 and involved the lifesaving efforts of Lehigh County corrections officers Chad Tonay and Jessie Eichelbaum of Easton.
An emergency call went out at the Lehigh County prison that one of the officers needed help. The officer was having a heart attack. Tonay and Eichelbaum were the first to respond and
assisted by performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator (AED). This lifesaving intervention was critical during those moments while awaiting the arrival of the Allentown emergency medical technicians, who took the man to the hospital.
Clara Barton Honor Award
Local American Red Cross volunteer Maynard Leith of Allentown will be presented with the Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership. This award recognizes meritorious services in volunteer leadership positions held over a period of years. Recipients of the award are inducted into the Clara Barton Honor Society, the highest award the American Red Cross bestows on volunteers. Recipients are nominated by peer Red Cross volunteers.
Leith began his Red Cross career in 1992 when he answered an ad for volunteer clerical support in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. He volunteers two days a week in the finance department processing incoming mail and outgoing bills. During his career with Red Cross, he has logged nearly 5,000 hours of volunteer service.
Other awards to be presented at the annual meeting are: The Good Neighbor Award, given to local businesses and corporations that have provided significant, ongoing support to the Red Cross; and the Exceptional Partnership Award.
Good Neighbor Award winners are: the accounting firm of Campbell, Rappold and Yurasits, LLP, of Allentown; and Clarke Systems of Allentown, distributor of Spadex Sign Systems.
Awards will be presented to seven companies and agencies that use Red Cross Safety training programs in the workplace and make a safe work environment a priority for their employees: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Verizon, Valley Youth House, Saucon
Valley Recreational Swim Program, Allentown Police Academy, Via of the Lehigh Valley, and Panther Valley High School.
The Junior League of the Lehigh Valley will be presented an Exceptional Partnership Award for their work with the Red Cross on the Dinosaurs Alive II!: They’re Back! educational program which took place March 16, 2002 through June 2, 2002. More than 50,000 children and
adults viewed this exhibit. Proceeds from the event will be reinvested in the community by both organizations.
During the business portion of the meeting, the following individuals will be elected as board members: Peter M. Brown, vice president at Lafayette Ambassador Bank; Frank K. DiBiaso, vice president at Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital; Robert M. McGovern, executive vice president and senior trust officer of Nazareth National Bank & Trust Co.; and Charmaine M. Rundle, LPN, at Gracedale County Home.
For more information about the Red Cross, call (610) 865-4400, or visit www.redcrosslv.org.
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley serves more than 660,000 residents in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Last year the Red Cross provided health and safety education training and emergency relief services to nearly 20,000 greater Lehigh Valley residents.
