ORANGE COUNTY AND THE GULF WAR : Red Cross Answers the Call of Fearful Kin : Volunteers: The center in Santa Ana is the lone communication link between many families and their relatives who are stationed in the Middle East.

Next to each telephone in the Orange County Red Cross emergency communication center lies a list of instructions on how to respond to distraught callers trying to contact men and women stationed in the Persian Gulf or simply seek information about them.

Since the U.S. embarked on war with Iraq, the center has been receiving calls from the families and friends of troops at all hours of the day and night. Some callers simply need someone to talk to, but others are eager to touch base with family members and acquaintances in the Middle East.

“Mostly they’re just looking for general information about the crisis,” said Rick Graves, 43, a first aid disaster volunteer who also helps out answering phones. “But some folks call about friends in the gulf . . . and it’s tough because if it’s not an emergency we cannot contact them.”

Part of the center’s job is to send messages to the troops from family members. Under normal conditions, Red Cross officials say, about 4,500 to 5,000 messages nationwide are transmitted by fax machine to troops from around the world daily. But with the onslaught of war, the numbers of requests have increased almost twofold, and Red Cross chapters across the nation have been told by the military to relay only emergency requests.

Orange County Red Cross officials said they have handled about 1,100 calls for military personnel assistance since Operation Desert Shield began in August. The center is the lone communication link between many Orange County families and their relatives stationed in the desert, said Judith Iannaccone, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization.

Iannaccone said people who call the emergency center hoping to contact military personnel should realize that service men and women are contacted only if there is an emergency--if the child of a service man or woman dies, an immediate family member is critically ill or a child is born.

The transmissions about the emergencies take only a few minutes to reach military installations, but Red Cross workers act only after they have verified the information independently.

Priscilla Schoch, a four-year Red Cross volunteer who is a coordinator for disaster emergency volunteers, said all calls--emergency or not--are welcome during normal business hours.

“We try to treat each call with TLC because we realize people are frightened,” said Schoch, of Westminster, who has friends stationed in the gulf. “We realize that people who call are in need of emotional support and direction,” she said.

Last week, the day after Iraq sent Scud missiles into the civilian population of Israel, phones at the center were relatively quiet, and volunteers had their first chance to relax since the war started.

However, three television monitors were tuned to the major news networks broadcasting events from Operation Desert Storm. The eight volunteers, who are mostly middle-aged men and women, said they keep an eye on the gulf coverage throughout the day.

Iannaccone said the calls increase when news reports broadcast military combat.

“After some event like a bombing, the calls come,” said Iannaccone. “When things like that happen, our switchboard lights up like a Christmas tree.”

And when the phone lines light up, volunteers such as Graves know they must assume the roles of counselor, confidant and community service referral agent.

“The main thing to convey is that we’re here to help them and there’s someone here they can rely on,” he said.

The emergency center can be reached at (714) 835-5381.