COUNTRY LIFE

REACT has a Winning way of helping people
By SHARON KENNEDY

Neal  Winning,   for  those  who don't catch his last name, says, "It's the opposite of 'Losing'. It's 'Winning.' "

And a winner he is when it conies to beating the odds against his disa­bling disease, spina bifida, and finding his niche in life, helping others. He says doctors once gave up on his chance of surviving a debilitating illness, "but the good Lord was with me."

He became a REACT volunteer after his leaving his job of 25 years with Goodwill Industries. Winning sits in his hospital bed or wheelchair in his Rockville home, monitoring for REACT. From 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week and some weekends, Winning listens to his home CB radio channel 9, the REACT channel. He listens for Washington area motorists' distress calls to truck driv­ers on area highways. In November, he will be celebrating his seventh year with REACT.

On his CB radio recently, Winning picked up a distress call from a truck driver who sounded close by. Upon learning that the truck driv­er's location was in California and not Maryland, Winning relayed the call to the Maryland State Police, who in turn transferred the distress call to California.

He also recently picked up a distress call from a truck driver in Massachusetts, which he relayed to the Massachusetts police.
"For the most part the monitoring is pretty routine," says Winning. There are occasional traffic accidents and fires seen by passing motorists.

"Rainy and snowy days are espe­cially busy, with all kinds of acci­dents," says Winning. When he hears a motorist calling for help over a CB radio, Winning checks his master list of emergency phone numbers and notifies the appropriate police office or fire department. "I have a good feeling when I get help to a motorist," he says. REACT members take Winning to the Montgomery County REACT Team meetings where ideas are exchanged and volunteers learn how to improve their communication skills.
Nail Winning on his radio with REACT. (Staff photo by Deborah...)

Officiating at these meetings is Peg Maryn, president. Like Winning, Maryn has her own stories to tell. In 1964, Maryn took part in her first search for a lost child. From the REACT team's bay station she functioned as the main control or information clearing house for REACT team volunteers in­volved in the search.

Maryn recalls that the child was found dead. She had been murdered. For REACT to become involved in a search for missing children, Maryn says, "a report of the missing child must be filed with the police and the police must request REACT's volunteer search REACT's volunteers and communication equipment are made available to organizations that want support services in the interest of safety.

"These may be school or community events like soccer games or a 10-kilo­meter run," she says. Maryn points out that at school or community events, telephones are not always easily accessible, and the fastest means of getting medical attention is through the use of REACT volunteer communication services.

At a recent 10-kilometer run in Be-thesda, REACT volunteers watched runners from all points along the course, and they were prepared to pro­vide help to injured or exhausted runners. They also provided a vehicle to fol­low the last runner and then opened up the streets to regular traffic.

New REACT volunteers take two hours of training in communication to become CB radio operators. Following the two-hour training, radio operators serve a probationary period on the air, when they are observed by veteran REACT volunteers who correct any mistakes made by volunteers.

The key element to becoming a skilled radio operator, says Maryn, is discipline."Volunteers learn the first rule, 'Leave the air clear,'" says Maryn. They learn how to take information on the CB and what to do with the information they receive. REACT volunteers enhance their skills with advanced first-aid training and are recertified when they complete 80 hours of training.

In addition to REACT's technical link with CB radios, a class "D" CB radio commonly used by truck drivers and motorists and a class "A" CB for a secure UHF frequency only for REACT the organization has bay stations lo­cated throughout the metropolitan area including one at WMAL radio for traffic reports. Although the Montgomery County REACT team is autonomous from other county teams, all volunteers have a single purpose: to help save people's lives whether the person in need is in a traffic accident or injured in a soccer game.

And a single communication system unites all REACT members. The Montgomery County REACT team is made up of 40 dedicated members like Maryn and Winning.