The Circular Process of Funding Emergency Response Operations
Now that I am on the ground working an operation, let’s take a few minutes to do an overview of the role Red Cross fills during a response. The medical field has a good term for this role: Triage. In the beginning of any incident (from a terrorist incident to natural disaster), triage roles include search and rescue for the first responders (Firemen, Law Enforcement, National Guard, and Red Cross). This is to address immediate medical need to keep people alive; nothing more; nothing less. Triage wards of a hospital are similar: Get the person in, keep them alive, get them to the next stage of recovery, get the next person in and start the process again until there are no more people in a life-threatening situation. This is a laborious and constant process. In a disaster response, this is where the Red Cross role is situated. Money comes from a donor and goes to finance to report, record and log the donation. Then the money goes in a fund that acquisition uses for the variou...