• DOI:10.2105/AJPH.20.5.479
• Corpus ID: 8173066

Public Health and Medical Problems in Disasters.

@article{DekleinePublicHA,
  title={Public Health and Medical Problems in Disasters.},
  author={William Dekleine},
  journal={American journal of public health and the nation's health},
  volume={20 5},
  pages={
          479-84
        }
}

• W. Dekleine
• Published 1 May 1930
• Economics
• American journal of public health and the nation's health

HE American Red Cross is a disaster relief agency chartered as 1 such by the federal government. The Congressional Charter, under which it operates, charges it, among other things, with the duty -" to continue and carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and to apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods and other national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same." Funds for maintaining the Red Cross organization are, however, not obtained through governmental sources, but entirely through voluntary subscriptions. It is therefore a semi-official agency. Its duties in disasters are official, but the financial support for all its activities is voluntary. The Red Cross functions in the field principally through the medium of local chapters, of which there are about 3,500 in the continental United States, 10 in our insular possessions and neighboring islands. Where chapters are prepared for disaster duty, they generally assume the leadership in the emergency relief work. Chapter preparedness is one of the objectives of the national organization. Such communities, therefore, conduct their own relief work at least until it is determined that outside assistance is necessary. The national organization participates in the relief program only where communities are not able to cope with the situation, or where assistance is urgently needed or requested. Red Cross relief in disasters is not based on the loss sustained by individuals or families, but on actual need only. Relief is intended primarily for the emergency needs of those who are in distress-to feed, clothe, and shelter them temporarily; to safeguard their health; to provide medical, nursing and hospital care; to assist them in rebuilding their homes and to help restore normal living conditions. Those individuals and families who are able to cope with the situation without material assistance are expected to do so.