Category Archives: Homepage Posts — Other

Superwoman to the Rescue: Patti Childress’ Story 

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Trigger Warning: Graphic Surgery Descriptions 

If it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, then Patti Childress must be Superwoman. The dynamic, assertive strawberry-blonde has had 40 surgeries over the past 29 years; yet, she still maintains an incredibly demanding schedule as a Blood Services account manager with the American Red Cross, where she’s responsible for getting blood drives booked and done. 

Woman standing next to blood drive sign at a Red Cross Blood Donation Center in San Jose.
Patti Childress is proud to share her health history with students and adults at the American Red Cross. She says that every day, volunteer blood and platelet donors are needed across the country to help save lives.

“Yes,” she said, “it would be a lot for anyone to do,” especially given the huge territory she is responsible for across the Northern California Coastal Region. But she is committed to encouraging, scheduling, planning, organizing, overseeing and finalizing blood drives as a way to thank all the people who were willing to donate the blood and platelets she needed to save her life. 

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A Courageous Fight with Cancer Inspires Hundreds to Donate, Even Mom

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Kelly Marie Harris Packard, 1991-2024. (Photo courtesy of Diane Harris)

She was a gifted athlete, captain of her team at Scotts Valley High School and an All-American at California Polytechnic State University. Intelligent and having acquired her master’s degree, she worked in New York City with a leading accounting firm before marrying the love of her life and landing her dream job in sports marketing in Portland.

In January 2023, Kelly Harris climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, with her mother, Diane, and they reached the summit — 19,341 feet up. Shortly thereafter, Kelly was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Kelly began chemotherapy and eventually underwent radiation, all while continuing to work.

“It took a toll on her body,” Diane said. Kelly received platelets and several blood transfusions over the course of her treatment. Realizing how dependent patients are on having a sufficient blood supply for this vital treatment, Kelly organized her own blood drive.

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Sound The Alarm:  502 Homes Made Safer Thanks to Red Cross Volunteers, Local Fire Departments and Community Partners

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1,357 smoke alarms installed throughout the Northern California Coastal Region in this spring

The American Red Cross responds to home fires more than any other disaster nationwide, so home fire prevention is something we take seriously. For that reason, Red Cross members, along with local fire departments and community partners, to install 1,357 free smoke alarms in 502 homes, making 1,472 residents safer from homes fires during our 2025 Sound the Alarm campaign. From April 26 – May 23, communities in Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Merced, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were made safer thanks to free smoke alarms and home fire prevention education.

Sound the Alarm events are a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign which aims to reduce the number of deaths from home fires. The Home Fire Campaign has helped save 2,320 lives since its launch in October 2014 due to working smoke alarms in homes. Nationwide, volunteers and local fire departments visit neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms and share home fire prevention information with residents, including home fire escape plans. Here in the Northern California Coastal Region, volunteers and partners have installed more than 55,300 free smoke alarms and made more than 20,000 households safer since 2014, saving 32 lives reported in the Greater Bay Area.

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Trust and Care: The Story of a Red Cross Volunteer Flight Surgeon

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“When patients come in, they automatically trust you when they see the Red Cross,” says Justin Nast, M.D., about the logo that is on his name tag. His American Red Cross badge identifies Dr. Nast as a volunteer flight surgeon entrusted with the care of U.S. Air Force aviators.

How did Dr. Nast become a Red Cross volunteer flight surgeon? Interestingly, he didn’t start his medical career planning to be a flight surgeon. In fact, he was an obstetrics and gynecology resident when he was recruited by the Air Force. (An ob/gyn is the medical specialty that encompasses pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, and the health of the female reproductive system.) After joining the armed forces, he spent eight years delivering babies and caring for the health of enlisted service women.

When the hospital he was stationed at in Germany was closing, he launched into a new career: aerospace medicine. Dr. Nast says it’s a growing branch of medicine.

Dr. Justin Nast is part of a unique partnership between the American Red Cross and the U.S. Air Force.
Dr. Nast supports the Air Force as a civilian, by volunteering through the Red Cross in the same role in which he served while on active duty – that of a flight medicine physician.
American Red Cross volunteers Dr. Dan Canlas and Dr. Justin Nast at Travis Air Force Base.
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Emergency Phone Call Connects Doctor to Red Cross

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When U.S. Air Force service member James “Eric” Bermudez received an urgent phone call from the American Red Cross notifying him of a family emergency back home, he had no way of knowing that it was one of many encounters that he would have with the Red Cross while he served. Even after retiring from the Air Force, his relationship with the Red Cross would continue, as he would take on a vital volunteer role.

That phone call came while he was an enlisted medical technician. “The Red Cross called me at my duty station. I was at work, and they called and said we want to put you in touch with your mother; she needs to talk to you,” says (now) Dr. Bermudez (who went on to become an officer and physician in the Air Force, after graduating from medical school). The Red Cross has a unique relationship with the armed forces, which includes helping service members connect with their families during times of emergency. So, on that day, the Red Cross tracked down Dr. Bermudez so that he could talk to his family.

Dr. Bermudez enjoys serving and giving back to the U.S. Air Force community as a civilian Red Cross flight medicine physician volunteer (Photo courtesy of Dr. Bermudez)
Flight medicine clinic at David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, site of a unique partnership between the Red Cross and U.S. Air Force (Photo courtesy of Roderick Tapnio)
From left – Col Alexei Kambalov, with Red Crossers Dr. Dan Canlas, Dr. Justin Nast, Alzinia Pailin, Aerial Chen, at David Grant Medical Center (Photo courtesy of Roderick Tapnio)
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Flight Surgeon Scores a Winning Volunteer Gig

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Can you imagine how eager a sports fan would be to hang out with their favorite team for the weekend? That’s how Dan Canlas, MD, retired Lt. Col. of the U.S. Air Force, describes his volunteer role for the American Red Cross. He is keen to spend his free time hanging out with his team of aircrew and operational personnel!

His role as a volunteer flight surgeon is part of a partnership the Red Cross has with the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base in California. Dr. Canlas and his fellow Red Cross colleagues volunteer their time and medical expertise at the flight medicine clinic, treating the aircrew and other military members involved in the flying mission.

From left – Red Crossers Aerial Chen, Alzinia Pailin, Dr. Justin Nast, Dr. Dan Canlas, with Col Alexei Kambalov at the flight medicine clinic at David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, site of a unique partnership between the American Red Cross and U.S. Air Force. (Photo by Roderick Tapnio)
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