Humanitarian Services of the American

Humanitarian Services of the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross (ARC) is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance to victims, relief to the disaster stricken and also education to the victims of disaster in the U.S.A. It is at times referred to as American National Red Cross and is an affiliate member of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the purposes of the ARC and if they have achieved these intended purposes. The paper will also look at the benefits that the recipients have gotten from the organization as well as what economic impact the ARC has administered on the ground. The paper will then look at the challenges that the organization if facing as a whole and what it is doing to tackle the challenges.

Finally there will be an effort to show what the current status and face of ARC is and the prospects that it portends for the future.

Historical Milestones of Humanitarian Service

(a). History Shaping

The ARC traces its history from May 21, 1881 when a visionary American, Clara Barton and a few, of her friends founded it. This was after she had visited Europe and heard of the Swiss inspired International Red Cross Movement after the civil war in Europe. She constantly campaigned for an ARC society and the ratification of the Geneva Convention to protect the victims of war, and finally the U.S. ratified it in 1882 (American Red Cross Museum, 2011).

Barton headed the ARC for 23 years and it was during her tenure that the ARC delivered the much needed service both domestically and abroad. It was during the Spanish-American war that the ARC provided relief efforts. It was also during this time that it successfully campaigned for the peacetime relief work to be included in the International Red Cross Movement, this turned to be the famous 'American Amendment'.

(b). How the Purpose Differ

The ARC was formerly meant for the assistance of the war victims, helping them get supplied both abroad and here at home. It was until the ARC received its second charter in 1905 that it included giving relief to the soldiers at war as well as serving as the communication medium with those back home, supplying the national and international disaster mitigation and relief during and after disasters. This charter remains to date and it helped open up the functions of the ARC from just serving the war victims to humanitarian provisions. There are other purposes that the ARC serves of late like conducting researches, blood donations, education camps on disaster awareness and aiding in resettlement for the displaced due to natural disaster and wars according to American Red Cross Museum (2011).

(c). Who are the target of assistance

The ARC has a wide target for assistance since the central purpose it serves in the society cannot be replaced by any other. The ARC targets the victims of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes. It also targets victims of emergencies like fire breakouts. The other target groups according to the American National Red Cross (2011) are the accident victims of any nature, ranging from road accidents, train crashes, mass poisoning, plane crash survivors, terrorism attacks and ship wreck survivors.

(d). Benefits from acts of public service

One of the historical contributions of the ARC that can never be brushed aside in the history of the public service was in 1917 when the U.S.A. declared war on Germany. Due to the dire need for humanitarian aid, the ARC dispatched a ship to Europe fully loaded with supplies and medical personnel. It was widely known as "the Mercy Ship" though officially the name was SS Red Cross. It is recorded that it carried 170 surgeons and nurses who were to provide medial relief to both sides of the divide with strict neutrality according to the Geneva Conventions.

The other historical milestone in terms of service to the public was the WWII where the ARC got involved way before even the U.S. engaged in the war. In 1939 when there was brewing trouble in Europe, the ARC provided the much needed humanitarian aid to the civilians. In 1941 the ARC responded to the U.S. government call for the ARC to help in blood donation to source for the life saving plasma needed at the war front (American Red Cross Museum, 2011)

The ARC has also been very active in Mass Care, which in simple terms is being at the fore front during disasters helping the afflicted. They are involved in food distribution and shelter provision for the affected. The ARC volunteers give service a collective or congregate basis to the community wholesomely. One example is the incidence of hurricane Katrina and the role played by the ARC (American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, 2011).

The ARC is also known for the generous act of long-term support and training that help many afflicted communities or societies to recover from the disaster and also rebuild their neighborhood or country. A recent incidence was the Haiti quake where the ARC stepped in to help in a major way and is still involved to date in the rebuilding process (American Red Cross, 2011).

Disaster Health Service (DHS) is another function of the ARC, where the ARC provides emergency service as well as preventive health service to help counter the outbreak of any infection in case of disasters. At times it goes further to help the victims settle the medical bills that may accrue due to infections acquired in the disaster wake.

The ARC also engages in Disaster Mental Health Service (DMHS), it provides the emergency as well as preventive health service to the victims of a disaster. The mental health service will include education and enlightenment on the possible stressors, the effects of these stressors and the methods that the victims can employ to deal with them.

ARC also organizes to have tents or booths that provide information about the people in the middle of the disaster. These they call Disaster Welfare Inquiry (DWI). It .also gives service that would lead to eventual re-union with the family members of the victims.

Family service is yet another engagement of the ARC, where the organization will help the victims of a disaster plan their recovery and they provide the technical guidance to these victims as well as help in the logistics towards acquiring the government resources (Cindy Tweed, 2011).

III. Expansion of Humanitarian Services

(a). Volunteer services

The ARC depend 96% on volunteers and hence the service of the volunteers cannot be undermined at all. The volunteers are sourced from different countries and do not discriminate in terms of race or ethnicity. The service of the volunteers may be called upon more when there is an emergency that requires more than the available regular staff and it is worth noting that the volunteers are thoroughly trained on all the prerequisite disaster handling skills. The volunteer membership is also drawn from across a wide profession bar hence there are various skills and knowledge that may be needed during the rescue operations.

(b). Blood services

The ARC is one of the most renowned organizations that have the widest blood donation drive in the U.S. It concerns itself a lot with regular blood donation drives and preserves it since blood can be needed at any time. For instance, in the course of this month, the American Red Cross Blood Services will be conduction a blood donation drive in Massachusetts region as reported by Top News writer Cindy Tweed (2011).

(c). Disaster Planning and Response Statistics

The ARC is known to be one of the most responsive organizations in terms of disaster response. They a.lso conduct a lot of training and medical camps to ensure that their volunteers are well prepared in terms of disaster preparedness. American Red Cross in Greater New York, (2011) estimates that the ARC staff arrive at every scene within minutes and their presence is felt round the clock and throughout the week if need be. The ARC is known to augment the efforts of the American government agencies and other countries governments to ensure that the much needed relief gets to the victims, as well as the compassion and the much needed comfort.

It is estimated for instance that in New York City alone, there are 12,000 cases of emergencies that will require the assistance of the ARC, ranging from home fires, collapsed buildings, and floods and so on. If extrapolated, this is a grin statistics and is such a huge number that without the adequate preparation it would be impossible to handle (American Red Cross in Greater New York, 2011).

(d). Service to the United States Armed Forces

The ARC was actually at the service of the U.S. armed forces as noted in the above history and the loyalty has not changed much. The ARC still helps the armed forces when they are out in the battle fields by providing medical services to them, as a means of conveying emergency messages from the families in the U.S. And from the battle field back to the families here in the U.S.A. As well (Military Advantage, 2011).

IV. Relief Impact on Economic growth

The relief that the ARC provides to the various disaster stricken areas has over the years proven to be vital in the revival of the economy of the areas and the countries at large.

(a). Why some area receive less aid than others

The distribution of aid has various factors that determine the proportion of the aid that an area can receive. The fundamental one is the extent of the need that prevails. There are disasters that destroy the entire supply of the victims and leave them with no supplies; these are usually given more priority than those who need a supplement to the little they are left with after the disaster.

The other factor that would dictate the amount that a region can get over the other is the accessibility, the easier places to access by road or steamboats tend to receive more relief provided by well wishers.

The other factor is the security levels. For instance in a war situation, though the ARC will try to access all the regions, the approach has to be well calculated and safe for the staff, hence the more secure regions may be beneficiaries of the aid over the high risk regions.

(b). How giving aid threatens anyone

The aid distribution has, over the years, faced resistance and possible politicization in a grand basis. The sitting government at times feels that the distribution of the aid in the country would undermine his capability to provide for his people. At times the governments tend to think allowing aid from international bodies would be tantamount to allowing foreign influence in local internal issues which is not the case. The most recent case was the Burmese government that barred the American and French naval vessels from accessing its land yet it has carried tons of food supplies, cars and medicine for the suffering in the armed conflict (John Templeman, 2008)

(c). Crisis over distribution of funds

The ARC like some of the humanitarian organizations has had instances of crisis over the distribution of funds. One instance that stands out is the 9/11 funds. Where there was an official plan for funds diversion by Healy, but many donors objected the idea since they had donated for the 9/11 in specific as noted by Gary Galles (2001).