When she is not with us in a disaster, she's jetting around the country as a flight attendant with American Airlines, a job she has had since 1992. It was her ability to travel inexpensively that got her from her home in Chicago to the EARS workshop in Ft. Lauderdale in 1996, where I first met her. Since she became a coordinator in 1997, Michele has attended five other EARS workshops, some of which she has helped me teach. The skills that Michele has learned as a flight attendant are ones that help make her a real asset when EARS is responding to disasters.
Flight attendants are aboard planes primarily to ensure the safety of passengers.
Therefore, extensive training is given in first aid and CPR, plus learning how to respond to an emergency situation. When you're 35,000 feet above the earth and an emergency occurs, flight attendants have to be able to think quickly, remain calm, and find ways to hopefully correct the situation, while working with limited resources. The need for all these skills are frequently needed in disasters down on earth too. Michele's experience with animals is primarily with horses. She has had her own horse for ten years and has participated in hunter and jumper shows.