The Circular Process of Funding Emergency Response Operations
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 various needed items during a disaster. Comfort kits, sanitation items, food, blankets, cots, water, and effort and transportation of volunteers from wherever they are, to where they are needed, and back to where they came from after all needs have been addressed.
This is a constant, rolling circle of events that circularly continues. Funding that is not used goes from one incident to the next and one person to the next and one operation to the next. Due to concerns that arose during large incidents where the general public does not see what happens, a large assumption occurs about the resources going toward other costs than what the donors expect. This is aggravated by the people who need additional help from the next actors during a recovery, (FEMA, Insurance Companies, Construction and Demolition teams, etc.) that take time to handle logistically, and like every mass casualty event, prioritization is a human effort with leadership that have a broader picture of who is affected, and whose needs are more immediate, and who can survive longer. After the colossal 2004 tsunami, more $200 million of private donations went to Red Cross and $120 million to American Red Cross branches.
Due to the triage portion of the Tsunami being far less than that, the funding was not able to go toward that. This created a myth that the Red Cross was simply pocketing the money and padding someone’s wallet. This is incorrect. However it also encouraged a strategy to appease donor concerns by developing a system to donate to a specific incident. (Gustav, Ike, Isaac, Sandy, Landslides, Forest Fires, Earthquakes in Washington DC and Nepal, and now Hurricane Harvey). When the funding is earmarked by donors to go to a specific incident, and triage ends; that money cannot be re-purposed. It needs to go back to the donor, or the donor needs to approve it being re-utilized. In an ideal world, the funding for the Tsunami would have been used for the hundreds of fires between it and Katrina, then Gustav, Ike, Sandy and thousands of other events through today. Due to the specific donor option, the ultimate decision Red Cross and International Red Cross boards and leadership needed to make, was logistically notifying donors who specifically donated funds. For some of them, that has not been possible yet, but the money is sitting there until there is approval to re-purpose the funds. As complex as this process was for each event, it has grown in complexity the more of these events occur, the more funds sit in accounts after triage is complete, that cannot be used for the next group requiring triage.
There are many volunteers like me, Irene G., Mary O., Suz R., Sridhar S. and numerous others who stepped up to volunteer their personal time, paid leave or vacation time in order to voluntarily assist those affected. That is for all intents and purposes an out-of-pocket gift and a serious commitment. While it may seem unfathomable to some of you, as Red Cross volunteers (and our local volunteer workforce who step up and support our efforts as a response begins); we have a key advantage in that we personally witness the direct and significant impact that our hard work has on the lives of numerous people involved every time we serve. On the ground working incredibly long and hard hours, we know 1) why we are here; 2) who we are assisting; and 3) what actual impact results. Those are far more powerful motivators than any or all messages, PR and marketing that money can buy.
If you need personal encouragement or reassurance the best way to really learn about Red Cross and what we do is to volunteer. Do that and you will see firsthand the direct impact that we have on people’s lives which should help clarify for everyone where and how those funds are being used. In addition to the thousands of volunteers, you will experience the actions of the Red Cross paid employees and executive staff that are all committed to working far harder and for more hours than would ever be expected by any corporation or non-profit in any other type of industry. If they were only out for themselves, they, like the volunteers; would all have moved to other organizations and positions requiring significantly less effort (while likely paying significantly higher compensation as well). If you do not believe me or do not believe these missions or operation funding efforts are accurate, that is your call. However, if you want to learn the truth; go volunteer and or donate and try to remember that when the cameras have gone home and the next big shiny object (story, scandal, hurricane, potential nuclear war or new movie, sport or fall lineup television show, etc.) comes along, that triage will be continuing its process tens of thousands of times every day. Red Cross volunteers who were in Texas 10 days ago are in Orlando now. Emergency responders are alongside American Red Cross working two wildfire relief shelters due to the Chetco Bar Fire and Eagle Creek Fire in Oregon; Red Cross volunteers are currently supporting responders and those affected by the 5,000-acre La Tuna Fire in California; a large fire early Sunday in Jamestown, N.Y.; even a large multifamily home in Lawrence MA. These processes happen thousands of times every day around the United States and around the world. So when you are wondering what the American Red Cross is doing, don’t just look across the country, look across your own back yard and you will see our volunteers accomplishing different triage operations every day and night of the year. Long after Harvey and Irma, just as the time passed for Katrina and Wilma, or Gustav and Ike, or Isaac and Sandy; as first responders and triage experts, Red Cross volunteers and staff have absolutely no doubt why we do what we do and yes, we also know that the revolving door keeps on turning and the very next incident requiring our help is mere moments behind this one.
This is a constant, rolling circle of events that circularly continues. Funding that is not used goes from one incident to the next and one person to the next and one operation to the next. Due to concerns that arose during large incidents where the general public does not see what happens, a large assumption occurs about the resources going toward other costs than what the donors expect. This is aggravated by the people who need additional help from the next actors during a recovery, (FEMA, Insurance Companies, Construction and Demolition teams, etc.) that take time to handle logistically, and like every mass casualty event, prioritization is a human effort with leadership that have a broader picture of who is affected, and whose needs are more immediate, and who can survive longer. After the colossal 2004 tsunami, more $200 million of private donations went to Red Cross and $120 million to American Red Cross branches.
Due to the triage portion of the Tsunami being far less than that, the funding was not able to go toward that. This created a myth that the Red Cross was simply pocketing the money and padding someone’s wallet. This is incorrect. However it also encouraged a strategy to appease donor concerns by developing a system to donate to a specific incident. (Gustav, Ike, Isaac, Sandy, Landslides, Forest Fires, Earthquakes in Washington DC and Nepal, and now Hurricane Harvey). When the funding is earmarked by donors to go to a specific incident, and triage ends; that money cannot be re-purposed. It needs to go back to the donor, or the donor needs to approve it being re-utilized. In an ideal world, the funding for the Tsunami would have been used for the hundreds of fires between it and Katrina, then Gustav, Ike, Sandy and thousands of other events through today. Due to the specific donor option, the ultimate decision Red Cross and International Red Cross boards and leadership needed to make, was logistically notifying donors who specifically donated funds. For some of them, that has not been possible yet, but the money is sitting there until there is approval to re-purpose the funds. As complex as this process was for each event, it has grown in complexity the more of these events occur, the more funds sit in accounts after triage is complete, that cannot be used for the next group requiring triage.
There are many volunteers like me, Irene G., Mary O., Suz R., Sridhar S. and numerous others who stepped up to volunteer their personal time, paid leave or vacation time in order to voluntarily assist those affected. That is for all intents and purposes an out-of-pocket gift and a serious commitment. While it may seem unfathomable to some of you, as Red Cross volunteers (and our local volunteer workforce who step up and support our efforts as a response begins); we have a key advantage in that we personally witness the direct and significant impact that our hard work has on the lives of numerous people involved every time we serve. On the ground working incredibly long and hard hours, we know 1) why we are here; 2) who we are assisting; and 3) what actual impact results. Those are far more powerful motivators than any or all messages, PR and marketing that money can buy.
If you need personal encouragement or reassurance the best way to really learn about Red Cross and what we do is to volunteer. Do that and you will see firsthand the direct impact that we have on people’s lives which should help clarify for everyone where and how those funds are being used. In addition to the thousands of volunteers, you will experience the actions of the Red Cross paid employees and executive staff that are all committed to working far harder and for more hours than would ever be expected by any corporation or non-profit in any other type of industry. If they were only out for themselves, they, like the volunteers; would all have moved to other organizations and positions requiring significantly less effort (while likely paying significantly higher compensation as well). If you do not believe me or do not believe these missions or operation funding efforts are accurate, that is your call. However, if you want to learn the truth; go volunteer and or donate and try to remember that when the cameras have gone home and the next big shiny object (story, scandal, hurricane, potential nuclear war or new movie, sport or fall lineup television show, etc.) comes along, that triage will be continuing its process tens of thousands of times every day. Red Cross volunteers who were in Texas 10 days ago are in Orlando now. Emergency responders are alongside American Red Cross working two wildfire relief shelters due to the Chetco Bar Fire and Eagle Creek Fire in Oregon; Red Cross volunteers are currently supporting responders and those affected by the 5,000-acre La Tuna Fire in California; a large fire early Sunday in Jamestown, N.Y.; even a large multifamily home in Lawrence MA. These processes happen thousands of times every day around the United States and around the world. So when you are wondering what the American Red Cross is doing, don’t just look across the country, look across your own back yard and you will see our volunteers accomplishing different triage operations every day and night of the year. Long after Harvey and Irma, just as the time passed for Katrina and Wilma, or Gustav and Ike, or Isaac and Sandy; as first responders and triage experts, Red Cross volunteers and staff have absolutely no doubt why we do what we do and yes, we also know that the revolving door keeps on turning and the very next incident requiring our help is mere moments behind this one.
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