Cornell University's Public Service Center is encouraging members of the Cornell community to take advantage of training courses in disaster services being offered by the Tompkins County Chapter of the American Red Cross in February and March.

The Red Cross offers emergency aid to people in crisis from natural disasters and other emergencies, like fires. The Tompkins County chapter has aided dozens of students over the past few years who have been forced to leave off-campus apartments because of fires. The Red Cross also sets up mass shelter facilities to house people during communitywide disasters. If such a disaster occurs in Tompkins County, Cornell facilities may be used for shelters, and the Red Cross would ask for volunteers from campus to help operate them.

"This partnership developed after a meeting with Mike Raffe of the Tompkins County Red Cross, discussing ways we could interact," said Renee Farkas, assistant director for community programs at the Public Service Center. "The center staff had been discussing ways that we could assist in mobilizing Cornell students and staff to assist in emergencies. Originally, we targeted students in this recruitment process to gauge interest, which has been successful. And now we are branching out to Cornell staff who have the same interest."

Preregistration is required for the upcoming free courses in disaster training. To register, contact Farkas at 255-1107 or rcf1@cornell.edu, or Mike Raffe at the Red Cross at 273-1900, ext. 11, or tompkins@crossnet.org. The classes will be held at the Tompkins County Red Cross at 201 West Clinton St., Ithaca.

The courses are:

• Feb. 2 – Introduction to Disaster Services, 6-10 p.m. This course is a prerequisite to all other disaster classes.
• Feb. 28 – Introduction to Disaster Services, 6-10 p.m. This is a repeat of the Feb. 2 class.
• March 2 – Mass Care: An Overview, 6-10 p.m.
• March 5 – Shelter Operations, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• March 5 – Shelter Simulation, 1:30-5:30 p.m.
• March 11 – Emergency Assistance to Families I, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• March 23 – Damage Assessment, 6-10 p.m.