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American Red Cross

American Red Cross

University of Phoenix

Healthcare Delivery in the United States

11/19/2008

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is a non-profit organization. The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton in 1881—127 years ago. Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in Washington DC on May 21, 1881. She was the chief of this organization for twenty three years. The idea came to her after visiting Europe and witnessing how the interactions were with the Swiss-International Red Cross. Ms. Clara Barton wasn’t a nurse, but she was there to help wounded soldiers on the front line. The worse the battle became, more and more soldiers became wounded. With the tragedies of the war it resulted in a shortage of emergency and medical supplies which convinced Barton to think about an organization for emergency relief. Barton’s mission was to gather volunteers to help out with the organization locally and internationally to deliver help to disaster victims.
In 1900 the first charter of the American Red Cross was granted by the U.S Congress, which made it responsible for providing services to Armed Forces and relief to disaster victims, within the United States and internationally. This allowed them the foundation to continue their efforts in disaster relief and mitigation and providing services and communication between the military and the families back home.
Throughout the years the American Red Cross expanded its services. Prior to World War I (1914-1918), the American Red Cross was the fist to introduced programs that train individuals in first aid, water safety and pubic health nursing programs. At this time local American Red Cross chapters grew from one hundred seven in 1914 to 3,861 chapters in 918. Membership grew to high numbers surpassing the 20 million persons which included junior members reaching high numbers also. Contributions in funds and material totaled to $400 million. Red Cross staffed hospitals,...