THEY'VE PUT 'HELP' IN ALL LANGUAGES VITAL INFORMATION TRANSLATED FOR RED CROSS WEB PAGES.Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer GLENDALE - The American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. is getting disaster preparedness pre·par·ed·ness n. The state of being prepared, especially military readiness for combat. Noun 1. preparedness - the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action); "putting them information out on the Web to local Armenian, Korean and Spanish speakers as part of an outreach effort begun after the 9-11 terror attacks terror attack n → atentado (terrorista) terror attack n → attentato terroristico . The Glendale-Crescenta Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross this month added the ``Together We Prepare'' portion of its Web site to the list of Web pages translated after Sept. 11, 2001. The outreach effort has enabled residents from the community's three main immigrant groups to access information on such topics as disaster assistance and CPR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Definition Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure to support and maintain breathing and circulation for a person who has stopped breathing (respiratory arrest) and/or whose heart has stopped (cardiac classes. ``When you have a good thing to share, you kind of want to be able to share it with everybody, and this language barrier is not an obstacle,'' said Irena Efremian, assistant chapter manager. Since the chapter is a nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group with limited funds, the New York- based Browne Global Solutions did all the translation work for free. About two pages of text was translated into the three languages for the latest additions to the Web site, and the work took about a week. Ten Web pages have been translated into each language since the beginning of the project. That includes the mission statement and links with information on ``life line'' services for seniors, donating blood and other other topics. The ``Together We Prepare'' section added this month advises readers to have a disaster plan and prepare emergency equipment. ``It's a very important step; it's a step obviously in the right direction, enabling and empowering people in our community who ... need to have this vital information,'' said Ardy Kassakhian, executive director of the Western Region of the Armenian National Committee of America The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is an Armenian-American grassroots organization that actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues. . Some Armenian speakers may be able to function in English at work, but they would not know the English words for CPR and other specialized spe·cial·ize v. spe·cial·ized, spe·cial·iz·ing, spe·cial·iz·es v.intr. 1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study. 2. information, he said. The local American Red Cross has nearly 1,000 volunteers. ``We have a diverse cadre (company) CADRE - The US software engineering vendor which merged with Bachman Information Systems to form Cayenne Software in July 1996. of volunteers, so if we have clients in Armenian community we have to serve we have volunteers that can do that,'' Efremian said. ``In Spanish communities, in Korean communities, we try to match up.'' So far, language has not been a barrier when the chapter helps disaster victims, she said. The CPR and other health and safety classes the chapter teaches are in English, but participants are allowed to bring a friend or family member to translate. And the chapter is working on having course materials translated, Efremian said. Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com |
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