Red Cross Nurse Help Advertisement World War 2 Poster

The American Red Cross (also known as the American National Red Cross) is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States, and is the designated U.S. affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Today, in addition to domestic disaster relief, the American Red Cross offers services in five other areas: community services that help the needy; communications services and comfort for military members and their family members; the collection, processing and distribution of blood and blood products; educational programs on health and safety; and international relief and development programs. The American Red Cross provides first aid, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Automated external defibrillator (AED), water safety and lifeguarding, babysitting, disaster preparedness, and home safety training throughout the United States. The training programs are primarily aimed at laypersons, workplaces, and aquatic facilities. The American Red Cross teaches around 12 million Americans these skills annually, ranging from youth to professional rescuers. In 2005 the American Red Cross co-led the 2005 Guidelines for First Aid, which aims to provide up-to-date and peer-reviewed first aid training material. Many American Red Cross chapters also have for sale first aid kits, disaster kits, and similar, related equipment. Many chapters of the American Red Cross offer pet first aid courses to prepare pet owners and pet professionals for emergency situations. The American Red Cross also offers a pet first aid reference guide. This guide includes a 30-minute DVD that informs viewers about safety procedures and instructs on dealing with medical emergencies and disasters. The American Red Cross handles international tracing requests and searches for families who have been separated by war or natural or man-made disaster and are trying to locate relatives worldwide. This is not a genealogical service but one that attempts to re-establish contact between family members separated at a time of war or disaster. Restoring Family Links services also provide the exchange of hand-written Red Cross Messages between individuals and their relatives who may be refugees or prisoners of war. At any given time, the American Red Cross Restoring Family Links program is handling the aftermath of 20-30 wars and conflicts. The worldwide structure of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross make this service possible. When new information from many former Soviet Union archives became available in that 1990s, a special unit, named the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Centre, was created to handle World War II and Holocaust tracing services.