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Red Cross

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Red Cross

Introduction

The American Red Cross organization was created to accommodate and provide relief for

everyone negatively affected by World War I. Over time, the organization's roles changed to

accommodate war-related disasters and any other problems affecting humanity (Cotter, 2017).

The Red Cross is often responding to issues such as; floods, hurricanes, wars, tornadoes,

accidents, and hurricanes. The Red Cross movement also plays a significant role in maintaining

public health through its services and education. Furthermore, the movement is effective in that,

for instance, it may provide medical resources unavailable to the local medical centers. Red

Cross’s central aim towards carrying out the humanitarian mandate lies in supporting the public's

health in times of disasters.

History

Officials started the movement at Solferino's battlefield following care offered to the

wars’ victims in 1859 without discrimination based on nationality. Since its founding in 1859,

the organization has expanded annually to something more significant and beneficial for the

disadvantaged. The American Red Cross now undertakes various activities resulting from two

areas; the organization's experience and ultimate creation on the spot to deal with the current

emergency. In the early years of its existence, the organization was not led by any agreement but

by the unity of thoughts of those involved. As time went on, particular humanitarian values

became evident as the elements of the movement. Gustave Moyner talked about four basic

principles in 1875, paving the way for the continuous adoption of the other tenets. The final

principles were agreed on in 1965 and consisted of four directions. The four principles

comprised of; foresight, which indicated that the movement should prepare disaster control
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measures earlier. Secondly, solidarity whereby the societies should establish mutual ties. The

third principle is centralization, which allowed a country to only work with a single organization.

Lastly, mutuality ensures everyone gets help regardless of their nationality. The fundamental

principles, including; impartiality, political, religious, and economic independence, were

recorded in writing (Egan & Pravongviengkham, 2016). The officials incorporated these

principles into the founding body. Another set of thirteen principles were supplemented to the

four directions and confirmed in 1921 after the Second World War. These principles were

analyzed by Jean and divided into two parts; principles expressing the cause of the Red Cross's

existence and principles bringing forth the movement’s structure. Today, the organization

adopted the seven regulations in 1965 in the movement's 20th international conference (Egan &

Pravongviengkham, 2016).

Role in Public health

Red Cross undertakes several responsibilities. Notably, the majority of its duties get

designed for the good of public health. The policies of the movement also revolve around

positive health for humanity. For instance, the organization has a policy that describes health as

the cornerstone of human dignity and recognizes health as a necessary right for everyone without

discrimination. Ever since the introduction of the movement, the Red Cross has taken and

included health and medical care as one of its primary responsibilities. The label "red cross"

brings forth the idea of health and wellbeing. Notably, public health security is the government’s

responsibility. However, we cannot deny that it is for the good that private agencies, including

Red Cross, should continue helping the government achieve good health for everyone.

Therefore, Red Cross makes a significant contribution to national welfare. The movement’s

responsibilities include; blood collection, disaster relief, public health nursing, accident control,
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water safety, nutrition, and home nursing (Egan & Pravongviengkham, 2016). Several of the

movement’s roles are present for defense and war efforts, but most of these roles are aimed at

health and welfare importance (Cotter, 2017).

Disaster Relief

A disaster is a catastrophic situation that leaves many people helpless or in some form of

suffering. Disaster aid provided by the Red Cross aims to meet emergency needs, including but

not limited to any medical or surgical needs, food, shelter, and clothing. Red Cross aims at

meeting the immediate needs of people caught up in any disaster; notably, it does not make a

total replacement for their losses. Additionally, the American Red Cross understands the need for

health assistance for sick people struck in disaster and helps people through its nursing service

(Cotter, 2017). Similarly, it recognizes the vital role of the local physician on matters concerning

health. The movement's services aim at reestablishing the pre-disaster relationship between the

affected and the medical practitioners. If the organization opens any emergency hospital to

control a disaster, it closes it immediately; the affected seek their physician's assistance.

First Aid

First aid services are activities done on an individual following an accident and without a

formal physician. The movement offers lessons and classes for first aid skills whereby the

instructor emphasizes things to do and not to do in the name of first aid services. There are

certificates issued after completion of the first aid skills classes. On average, the American Red

Cross issues approximately 30000 certificates monthly and four million certificates annually.

First aid is a great activity promoting public health as it helps avoid health complications that

may even lead to death. For instance, in an accident, when a Red Cross medical provider aids the
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victim in reducing excessive bleeding before the arrival of a physician, the action saves the

victim's life as the result of excessive bleeding is death.

Nursing services

Red Cross offers nursing services in that the movement reserves adequate nurses

responsible for meeting the health needs of armed forces at all times. A Red Cross nurse

assigned by the navy becomes a part of the army and thus enjoys all the benefits related to the

Navy corps. Notably, the role played by these nurses is well visible during wars. Additionally,

the nurses actively contribute to handling disasters that have not resulted from wars. In addition

to this, Red Cross also maintains the health of individuals by being keen on the symptoms

indicating any health issues. Red Cross nurses ensure that this is possible by offering home-

based care nursing lessons to families. The nurses teach people how they can maintain their

family’s wellbeing. Red Cross takes its home-based care program so seriously that they offer

certificates for the courses. As a result, this clearly shows that Red Cross takes human health and

wellbeing with the required seriousness. Creating awareness about a disease is one of the

primary and most effective ways of dealing with illnesses. Red Cross nurses know the

importance of this, and consequently, they offer awareness courses. As a result, people are

motivated towards changing their way of life and thus prevent many diseases that primarily

result from lifestyle.

Medical health services

Red Cross adopted some projects in 1940 and 1941 as Red Cross’s participation in

national emergency programs. These projects aimed at improving public medical health status.

Firstly, the movement adopted the medical technologists’ enrollment. There was an abnormal

increase in the number of inquiries for medical technologist after the Pearl Harbor attack.
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Secondly, the movement adopted “the Doctors for Britain Project” which marked the enrollment

of doctors who were supposed to reduce the doctors' shortage in the British military. They

recruited doctors to serve as staff of Emergency Medical Service and the Army Corps. The blood

donor service was another adopted project among the most popular services offered by Red

Cross. The project started after the Surgeons General of Army and Navy asked the Red Cross

and National Research Council to create a project for collecting blood for handling dried plasma

for the Army and Navy’s medical department. The Red Cross was responsible for requesting

blood donor volunteers, safely collecting blood, and transferring the blood to biological

companies. Notably, the request for blood by the Surgeons General initially required a collection

of 10000 pints of dried blood plasma for treatment of army forces, but the requested blood

increased to 215000 units in May 1941. The increase followed the Pearl Harbor attack and war

declaration. The amount of requested blood continued to grow all through 1941 and 1942. In

1945 the blood collection program was closed and reestablished in 1948 (Egan &

Pravongviengkham, 2016). The blood was usually shipped to the army and navy while

refrigerated and stored as plasma in verified laboratories. Volunteers continued to increase when

the blood was not reserved strictly for the navy but for any patient brought at a hospital in need

of blood. The numbers increased such that there are 35 regional blood centers (Egan &

Pravongviengkham, 2016).

Matters Arising

To enable the Society to fulfill its mission to "protect the lives and dignity of victims of

war and internal violence," the Society requires more support and collaboration with partner

states, groups, and individuals. As earlier indicated, economic independence is one of Society's

fundamental principles. Consequently, funding mechanisms need to be set up to prevent it from

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being beholden to any one party. The IRCS launches an appeal annually to secure funds for its

operational costs and relies on the government's party to the Geneva Convention, supernational

organizations, private groups, and individuals for its sustenance (ICRC, n.d.). Furthermore, the

Society also seeks to collaborate with governments and their officials to help create conducive

environments to carry out its mandate and meet its responsibilities and objectives through

education and awareness creation (ICRC, n.d.). New challenges arising every day, the most

recent being the implosion of violence in Afghanistan, present more challenges that the IRCS

must meet to help the most vulnerable (ICRC, 2021). Increased effects of climate change also

mean that more people are pushed towards poverty, hunger, and starvation, all of whom depend

on organizations such as the IRCS to meet their needs. Conducive environments created through

legislation will enable the Society to help the vulnerable, and increased funding would mean

more support and interventions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that the main aim of Red Cross services before was dealing

with war-related disasters. However, the services have changed today to accommodate war-

related problems and any disaster that arises. Red Cross today is not only called upon for

services, but it also ensures that they can effectively respond in case of any emergency and

disaster. Equally important, the Red Cross has helped the government in achieving public

welfare for the longest time. Unlike what most people assume, the Red Cross is a helping hand

for local physicians and not a total replacement.

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References

Cotter, C. (2018). Red Cross. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 10. Egan, T.

B., & Pravongviengkham, T. (2016). American Red Cross: a history and analysis. Naval

Postgraduate School Monterey United States.

ICRC. (2021). Afghanistan: Red Cross-supported health facilities treat more than 4,000 people

wounded by weapons since Aug 1. International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved

Aug 18, 2021, from https://www.icrc.org/en/document/afghanistan-red-cross-supported-

health-facilities-treat-more-4000-people-wounded-weapons.

ICRC. Finances. International Committee of the Red Cross. Retrieved Aug 18, 2021, from

https://www.icrc.org/en/who-we-are/finances.

ICRC. Government Relations. Redcross.org. Retrieved Aug 18, 2021, from

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/governance/government-relations.html.