Recent presidents and CEO s include Gail J. McGovern, Cliff Holtz, Elizabeth Dole, Bernadine Healy, Mary S. Elcano, Mark W. Everson and John F.

[citation needed] In February 1999, ARC completed its "Transformation", a $287 million program that re engineered Red Cross Blood Services' processing, testing, and distribution system and established a new management structure.

These tests detect the genetic material of a transfusion-transmitted virus like HIV without waiting for the body to form antibodies, potentially offering an important time advantage over current techniques.

[citation needed] Training Services has an online store where you can purchase supplies including First Aid Kits, CPR key chains, flashlights, and emergency radios.

[citation needed] Although the American Red Cross is not a government agency, its authority to provide disaster relief was formalized when, in 1905, it was granted a congressional charter to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same."

It is a member of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and works closely with other agencies such as Salvation Army and Amateur Radio Emergency Service with whom it has memorandums of understanding.

[52] A major misconception among the general public is that the American Red Cross provides medical facilities, engages in search and rescue operations or deploys ambulances.

[citation needed] The Disaster Services Workforce (DSW) system enrolls volunteers from American Red Cross chapters into a national database of responders, classified by their ability to serve in one or more activities within groups.

[citation needed] As a National Response Framework[54] support agency, ARC shelters, feeds and provides other types of emergency relief to victims of disasters.

$10,000 was given to the ARC by Philander Knox to provide relief in the form of blankets, clothing, and food to captured soldiers from José Santos Zelaya's army.

[64] Prior to the United States entry into World War One, the American Red Cross was a neutral organization aiding both the allied and central powers.

[67] Amongst its initiatives was the Pisa Village in Italy, a humanitarian housing project, begun in 1918,[citation needed] and manufacture of "500,000 dressings" to treat wounds using use of Sphagnum moss in place of cotton, based on the research of John William Hotson.

[71] The American Red Cross, therefore, served the dual functions of assisting the realization of United States foreign policy objectives and promoting international humanitarianism.

This international society of national Red Cross organizations was spearheaded by the United States and sought the "improvement of health, the prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world.

"[72] During the flu pandemic of 1918, American Red Cross chapters were instrumental in establishing both preventive measures and treatment plans within their local communities throughout the United States.

[citation needed] The ARC's private funding allowed for more flexibility than government organizations, its leaders chose to support U.S. foreign policy in many ways but also often pursued aims that differed from that of the military or political policymakers.

[76] Hundreds of ARC workers pursued permanent reform of Italian social politics, rather than emergency relief they founded nursing schools, developed child welfare projects and waged anti-tuberculosis crusades.

[87][88] ARC immediately responded to the May 2007 Tornado Outbreak in central Kansas by setting up emergency shelters for displaced residents and started the distribution of food, water and relief supplies.

[89] Following the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, the Twin Cities Area Chapter responded with their Disaster Action Team to provide food, information and comfort.

Jameson, recommended a financial commitment to drainage, flood prevention, and land reclamation which he promised would result in 'the elimination of the suffering, starvation, and degeneration of several millions of people', which would substantially reduce 'unrest and lawlessness'.

[citation needed] On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck the Haitian coast 10 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince, causing massive damage, more than 200,000 deaths and displacing nearly 2 million people.

ARC funded recovery projects to provide transitional homes, health services, disaster preparedness, water and sanitation improvements and livelihoods development.

[101] A series of reports by NPR and ProPublica found that much of the money Americans donated never made it to help people in Haiti and promises to rebuild neighborhoods were never met.

Restoring Family Links services provide the exchange of hand-written Red Cross Messages between individuals and their relatives who may be refugees or prisoners of war.

During World War II, ARC operated the American Red Cross Clubmobile Service to provide servicemen with food, entertainment and "a connection home."

The suit also asked for the destruction of all non-Johnson & Johnson Red Cross Emblem bearing products and demanded that ARC pay punitive damages and J&J's legal fees.

[127][128] In August 2020, the American Red Cross reported on its website that its deferral of MSM from donating blood for 3 months after any sexual contact with another man is aligned with the newly updated guidance issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

[129] Then in May 2023, the FDA approved a policy to allow "monogamous gay and bi men (MSM) to finally donate blood immediately" - however would take some time to fully implement across the whole United States of America.

Such reports are typical of a large-scale disaster relief operation involving other national Red Cross societies to solicit their input, but are usually confidential and not released to the general public.

"[136][137][138] Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan The Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus (suspended) Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile [es] China Colombia Comoros Congo [it] Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica [es] Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba [es] Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador [es] Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru (suspended) Philippines Poland Portugal [pt] Qatar Republika Srpska Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan (Republic of China) Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Abkhazia (no-member) Cyprus, North (non-member) Hong Kong (autonomous branch of the RCSC) Kosovo (non-member) Macau (autonomous branch of the RCSC) Oman (non-member) Ossetia, South (non-member) SADR (pending recognition and admission) Somaliland (non-member) Taiwan (former member) Transnistria (non-member) Vatican City (autonomous branch of the Italian Red Cross)