The American Red Cross: The Federal Emergency Management Model

This paper is designed to show you the differences between the way conservatives and progressives view the federal role in emergency management. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of each them. Also, we will discuss what you should expect as a practitioner of the profession on how to prepare yourself when you would like to switch from one to the other. Most importantly discuss the criteria of a natural disaster and how human and social perception factors inter play with each other. One question at hand is do we blame the victim? What does “blaming the victim” means? Is there any validity to this or not? Does this concept influence the way our society responds to disaster or any other event that may occur? These are some of

Organizations over the past few decades have come to realize two things, there are a limited number of people in the government that are able to respond to natural disasters or large scale disaster effectively and that the government only has so many available resources to offer during a time of crisis. Another fact is, that private sector companies and non-profit entities, such as the Red Cross, have the ability to be more prepared due to their vast network of stores and distribution centers and their leisure, they indeed do have a unique responsibility

The American Red Cross is a major organization in the United States and around the world. Clara Barton founded the American chapter in 1881. She was a public servant who decided to get involved during the civil war by attending to wounded soldiers and feeding them on the battlefield. Her sense of humanitarian work was only strengthened by her trip to Europe during the Franco Prussian war, where she discovered the initiative of Henri Dunant (Reitman, 1996). After the battle of Solfinero, this Swiss banker was shocked by the carnage of war and decided to gather doctors and volunteers around the village to help tend to the wounded. This action motivated him to create a nonpartisan organization that can focus on caring for people wounded in wars and conflicts regardless of their origin. (Reitman, 1996). The organization was ratified in the 1864 Geneva Convention by twelve countries and later by many others. The United States Red Cross was founded due to the efforts of Barton in Washington (Reitman, 1996). The first chapter of the national American Red Cross was created in upstate New York. Later, the organization received funding to create its national headquarters in Washington. Since then, the Red Cross has benefited form a close relationship with Washington as it was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would become the central point-of-contact within the national government in responding to incidents. Since formation in 1979, FEMA’s core missions were to enhance the government’s ability to survive a foreign attack, and to assist state and local authorities in disaster response (Carafano, 2005). And while the two core missions seem heterogenous in scope at times from an outside perspective, the biggest difference between the two tasks is duration. A man-made disaster may be over in a matter of minutes as compared to a hurricane lasting several days, but in both instances the road to recovery is long. In order to streamline response and recovery in either scenario, FEMA was reorganized with new directives to support comprehensive emergency management practices (CRS, 2006). Today, FEMA provides the standard approach and guidance that many local communities may not have due to funding, training, and

Disaster relief operations are complex systems having more to them than just a response mechanism. They require a significant amount of pre-planning.

Natural and man-made disasters have increased in the past decade, and due to these changes, Emergency Managers had to make drastic changes in order to improve the way first responders operate in a disaster area.

As the state of our currently understood weather patterns and global climate become more understood, in context, with great concern, the federal government has placed an ever larger portion of its national focus on promoting a more efficient response to such concern via disaster mitigation and management with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A historical extension of the federal government for which is principle utilized for disaster aid and response, this agency is as much a direct extension of the current presidential administration as it is a crisis agency for social good. This simple description clearly suggests a detailed understanding following the Hurricane Katrina disaster that left the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, in particular, as a study in social failure. But as an agency emboldened by an administration concerned with climate change, FEMA has shown as an agent for change in how it addresses and refocuses states in preparation for the inevitable future climate change.

Throughout the semester, I have been able to volunteer for the American Red Cross Disaster Services Team. This has been one of the most beneficial volunteer opportunities that I have ever accomplished. As an American Red Cross of Georgia Major Gift Officer, this volunteer experience allowed me to gain knowledge in a department that serves as the backbone of the American Red Cross.

This is a review of Emergency Management: The American Experience 1900-2010 by Claire B. Rubin and Butler (2012), chapters 1 and 2. Emergency management at the federal level was nonexistent before 1950 when the Federal Disaster relief Act was passed. Disaster relief was the responsibility of state and volunteer agencies like the Red Cross. Several disasters paved the way for emergency management. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the San Frisco Earthquake of 1906, and the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 were the disasters that laid the foundation for the 1950 Federal Disaster relief Act (Butler, 2012, pg. 17).

Since 2010, the American Red Cross (ARC) annual expenditures on domestic relief services have been between $250 million and $400 million with majority of the donations coming from private donors. Additionally as of 2015, approximately 90% of the Red Cross workforce during disasters were comprised of volunteers. 2014 the Red Cross saw an enormous influx of expenditures as a result of Hurricane Sandy. This national disasters tested the overall efficiency of the Red Cross Operations since the Hurricane Katrina debacle. One of the significant issues raised by the society was the lagged response time of the ARC. One the reasons for this delay was due to the uncertain of the responsibilities between the ARC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(“A Brief”). The American Red Cross continued to provide services to members of the armed forces, even during the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf war’s (“A Brief”). The American Red Cross continued to expand their services into fields such as civil defense, training in CPR/AED, education in HIV/AIDS, and providing support and care in the wake of disasters both emotional and physically (“A Brief”). Since 2006 the American Red Cross has been working with FEMA helping government agencies and community organizations plan, coordinate and provide shelter, feeding, and family reunification services for people affected by disasters (“A Brief”). Today the American Red Cross provides compassion and care in areas such as, Blood collection, processing, and distribution, support for members of the military and their families, health and safety training and education, relief and development internationally, and people affected by disasters in America (“A

Back in 2012, the Eastern Coast of the United States of America suffered the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, otherwise known as Superstorm Sandy, or Frankenstorm. The hurricane caused colossal damage and urban flooding to many people living in suburban areas and caused billions of dollars in damages. Like Superman of Metropolis responding to a villain, the American Red Cross responded almost immediately; providing 75,000 with overnight stays, and over 14,000,000 in relief items, including food and water. This made up for more than half of all items distribute in 2012 alone. Which is why your donation to the American Red Cross will benefit the millions of lives struck by similar natural disasters across the world every year.

The American Red Cross is one of the most prominent and ever evolving organizations of our century. They’re a company that helps prevent and formulate drastic measures to small measures to relieve the suffering that people go through every day in the face of emergencies. They are as effective and efficient as the military as they can mobilize forces of volunteers and with willing to give from donors strengthen and power American Red Cross. They are the main and primary emergency preparedness and response organization. The ARC will and is always ready to bring gracious, protecting, and saving comfort to all humans that are face to face in disastrous situations and crises, from tsunamis to tornadoes to earth shaking quakes. Red Cross turns to volunteers to many of the members of the military to give and provide lifesaving blood for the need of survivors of disasters around the world, every time the clock ticks a second, and every day that the sun rises.

An emergency is a severe, sudden and sometimes risky circumstances requiring urgent action (Salman Sawalha, 2014). Escalation of an emergency situation can lead to disaster; which is an unusual event that can cause lost of life and property (Salman Sawalha, 2014). International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRRCS) define disaster as “unexpected devastating events that disrupts the operations of a population or public which leads to huge losses and overwhelmed the affected community 's ability to respond to the situation with the resources they have at hand”. There are two main types of disaster that can lead to emergency situations; these include natural and man-made disasters.

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.