Back American Red Cross outreach to military service members and their families was featured during the March 11 Red Cross program on KJFF Radio (1400 AM).  Greg Widner, Armed Forces Emergency Services supervisor for the St. Louis Area Chapter, and Omar Ruiz of the Jefferson County Service Center in Arnold, provided details about Red Cross services nationwide to 1.4 million active duty personnel and 1.5 million members of the National Guard and Reserves. Assisting the American people in communicating with family members serving in the Armed Forces was mandated by the U.S. Congress to the American Red Cross many years ago.  Today, Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services personnel serve across the country and on 109 military installations around the world, utilizing the resources of nearly 1,000 Red Cross chapters.  This includes service to our troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Red Cross chapters brief departing service members and their families regarding available support services and explain how the Red Cross may assist them during their deployment.  Emergency communications through the Red Cross provide a link for service members to their families back home. Messages are delivered around-the-clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year from all over the world during times of emergency or other important events.  The Red Cross also serves as an important resource and referral for families seeking financial assistance and crisis intervention during a time of need. More than 95 percent of family emergencies requiring the presence of a military service member occur with the death or serious illness of a close relative at home.  Once the local Red Cross chapter has verified all details related to the emergency, information is sent to the service member stationed anywhere in the world.  Military commanders then make a decision regarding emergency leave, often checking with the Red Cross for verification of the information.  Other messages involve happy news, such as an announcement regarding the birth of a service member’s son or daughter back home. In recent months, the 220th and the 1035th National Guard units from Jefferson County were called up for active duty.  Guardsmen and reservists across the country are facing similar circumstances in record numbers.  Approximately 184,000 are currently mobilized. Not only does this occur more frequently, but the deployments often last for longer periods of time.  The American Red Cross has implemented a program called “Get to Know Us Before You Need Us” to familiarize the public with the services available to them, so that when a need arises, citizens are aware that the Red Cross is always there. The April installment of the Red Cross radio program on KJFF-AM will air at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 8.  For more information about Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services or the “Get to Know Us Before You Need Us” program, please call 314.516.2700 or log on to www.redcrossstl.org.   This story may be available for an Adobe Acrobat PDF download. Click on the link below to visit the site download center. If a PDF is available, the file will automatically open in your browser.

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