Red Cross Month: Community Health Efforts Part of Red Cross Since Its Founding

Supporting the health of communities across the country has been part of the mission of the American Red Cross for more than 140 years, dating back to our founder, Clara Barton.

From caring for her injured brother at 11 years old to aiding wounded soldiers during the Civil War, Clara Barton was a pioneer in the nursing field and became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield.” She laid the groundwork for our community health efforts with major disaster responses like the 1889 floods in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where she rallied volunteers, doctors and nurses to deliver shelter, food and medical care.

Red Cross generations have followed in her footsteps, whether it was mobilizing thousands of nurses to care for people during the 1918 influenza epidemic, developing a national blood collection system that helped save thousands of lives during WWII, or establishing a national water safety program that has helped save lives for more than a century.

Just as the Red Cross responded to the 1889 floods, our workers today continue to provide care and hope after disasters. In fact, we’re responding to large events on a nearly continual basis — and among broader disaster relief services, disaster health and mental health support is as important as ever in the face of intensifying extreme weather.

Here are some other ways that the Red Cross supports the health of communities:

NATION’S LARGEST BLOOD SUPPLIER Today, the American Red Cross provides about 40% of the nation’s blood supply. Our Biomedical Services traces its roots to Dr. Charles R. Drew, known as the “Father of Modern Blood Banking.” His efforts led to the development of a national blood collection system that helped save thousands of lives during WWII. This wartime endeavor became the model for the civilian blood program that the Red Cross began in 1948, a legacy that continues to save lives today.

Expanding our community health efforts, the Red Cross will provide free A1C screening to everyone who makes a successful blood, platelet or plasma donation in March. It’s the latest health insight that the Red Cross provides for blood donors, who already receive pulse, blood pressure, body temperature and hemoglobin level findings.

COMMUNITY ADAPTATION PROGRAM By forging new partnerships with local nonprofits that provide services related to health, hunger and housing, the Red Cross seeks to build more resilient communities. Working with local health partners will help their communities better withstand disasters and increase their capacity to cope with chronic disaster risks and socioeconomic challenges. Together, we’re developing collaborations focused on enhancing our partner’s ability to deliver services and improve access to health and mental health services in these local communities.

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN In 2014, the Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign to help people stay safe from home fires — the nation’s most frequent disaster — by sharing home fire safety information with families and installing free smoke alarms in neighborhoods with a high risk for fires. Since then, this effort with community partners has helped save at least 2,266 lives, install more than 2.6 million free smoke alarms, and make more than 1.1 million homes safer across the country.

AQUATICS CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN The campaign aims to reduce the number of drownings in locations with high drowning rates, working with partners to increase access to swim lessons, water safety education and CPR training. The campaign builds on our foundation of establishing a national water safety program that’s helped save lives for over a century. Water safety is just one of the many skills that we teach. Today, more than 6.6 million people a year take Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED, Lifeguarding, Learn to Swim, and other lifesaving courses, so they are empowered to help in the moments that matter.

SUPPORTING MILITARY FAMILIES, VETERANS AND CAREGIVERS The American Red Cross has been helping members of our country’s armed forces, our veterans and civilians since the Spanish-American War in 1898. Today the Red Cross provides more than 480,000 services to members of the military, veterans and their families each year.

We provide 24/7 global support to members of the military, veterans, their families and caregivers by focusing on their whole health through behavioral health and wellness workshops; hospital, clinic and peer support programs; and the distribution of care, comfort and therapy items.

ELIMINATING MEASLES & RUBELLA Through the global Measles & Rubella Partnership, we’re working with partners to vaccinate children and educate families about the dangers of these diseases around the world. Since 2000, measles vaccinations have saved an estimated 60.3 million lives.