American Red Cross Disaster Services

 

The CRC recently facilitated bringing Keith Stefanelli, Associate Director, Planning and Preparedness in the Disaster Services division of American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay to a Med/Surg Team II team meeting.

The Red Cross provides a wide range of services including blood services, disaster services, international social services and services to the military. This presentation focused primarily on their disaster services.

Small-Scale Disasters

The Red Cross provides for the emergency needs in the immediate aftermath of small scale man-made and natural disasters (such as house-fires, hurricanes, severe winter storms, floods, etc.). They attend to the survivors’ basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, health and mental health. 95% of their staff are volunteers.

Process - The first-responders, generally fire departments, usually contact the Red Cross. Red Cross provides educational outreach to fire departments to try to ensure that they are contacted as soon as reasonably possible. Red Cross referrals are not limited to first-responders though; they will accept self-referrals or referrals from other providers.

In the Boston area they are usually on the scene within an hour of receiving the call. They then attempt to track down all those affected by the disaster to interview them about their needs. They can provide concrete assistance for those needs. These funds all come from private donations.

Food and Clothing - Red Cross can provide a credit card pre-loaded with an amount based on the family’s needs ranging from $50 to, in rare cases of large families, up to $1,000. They do not micromanage the family’s purchases with those funds only stipulating that they not be used for alcohol, tobacco or weapons.

Shelter - if the survivor has no friends or family able to provide shelter, the Red Cross can put them up for 1-2 nights at a hotel. Red Cross has negotiated special rates with certain hotels, and the costs are tax-exempt due to the Red Cross’s non-profit, tax-exempt status. Unfortunately they cannot provide ongoing shelter. This service is meant to serve as a bridge while survivors marshal other resources or access other assistance.

Health - Red Cross can help disaster survivors to obtain replacement supplies of important medications, including providing co-pay assistance if needed.

Mental Health - The Red Cross has a mental health team that can offer assistance over the phone or can be mobilized if needed. Triggers that would lead to a call to the Mental Health team include fatalities and over 30 people involved.

Advocacy - Red Cross staff also can provide information and referral to disaster survivors. The Eastern Mass. chapter often refers to the Salvation Army and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for ongoing assistance to find housing or replace furnishings for example. Also landlords are required to have insurance that should provide additional funds to the displaced.

Large-Scale Disasters

In large-scale disasters the Red Cross provides services to cover the same 5 basic needs outlined above, but the method to provide them changes.

Food - In large-scale disasters, the Red Cross generally establishes “feeding centers” rather than giving out pre-loaded credit cards.

Clothing - Generally will partner with Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul to provide clothing since Red Cross does not supply clothing directly.

Shelter - Red Cross may partner with local authorities to open a shelter in a school gym or other suitable public facility. This happens more often than one might think- typically once a month in Massachusetts.

Disaster Welfare Inquiry System - the Red Cross’s “Safe & Well” website that uses the internet to allow far-flung family and friends to check on the welfare of disaster survivors. The survivor, if she chooses to participate, logs in and chooses from a menu of status updates. Then those looking for the survivor can access the system and see the status update. For security reasons, one must know the survivor’s name and either her address or phone number to access her status message.

Other Services

International Social Services- The Red Cross partners with their counterparts throughout the world to try to establish communication among families divided by war or disaster.

Services to the Military - Among other services, the Red Cross provides a pre-deployment orientation to their services and can help facilitate a military leave if, for example, a family member is terminally ill or has died. For details on this process, you may recall that Kitty Craig-Comin had written instructions that she shared with the department. The instructions are posted on our website www.mghsocialwork.org > Staff Access > Military > Military Leave Request (to Visit Ill Relative) .

Staff Questions

If someone has been hospitalized for a period of time, would he be eligible for disaster services upon discharge? The Red Cross’s services are designed for the immediate aftermath of the disaster, that first 24-36 hour period. While hospitalized obviously the hospital is providing for the patient’s basic needs. The hope is that during the hospitalization the patient’s loved-ones have had the opportunity to make arrangements to meet the patient’s needs post-discharge. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis, such as if the whole family was hospitalized.

Does Red Cross provide medical transportation? Unfortunately, the transportation services that the Red Cross used to provide from the south shore to Boston were not financially viable and were halted.

For more information or to refer: Red Cross 800-564-1234.

-Thanks to Keith Stefanelli for his informative presentation and his help with this article.

10/09