Emergency Communications Services
When a military family experiences a crisis, the American Red Cross is there to help. The Red Cross relays urgent messages containing accurate, factual, complete and verified descriptions of the emergency to service members anywhere in the world, including ships at sea, embassies, and remote, isolated locations. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Red Cross links members of the U.S. Armed Forces with their families during emergencies. Also, when a service member’s child is born, the Red Cross may be asked by the birth mother to deliver an announcement to the new father.
Through a worldwide network, Red Cross caseworkers:
- Verify the circumstances of a death, critical illness or injury, or other emergency affecting a service member’s immediate family
- Send an emergency communication message to the service member’s location
- Ensure delivery of the message
- Follow up with the family back home
Service members and military commanders rely on Red Cross emergency communications to help make leave decisions or to help service members cope with the emergency in other ways.
How to contact the Red Cross for assistance
Active-duty service members stationed in the United States and family members residing with them: Call 877-272-7337 (toll-free).
Family members who do not reside in the service members' household, members of the National Guard and Reserves, retirees and civilians: Call your local Red Cross chapter, which is listed in local telephone books and at http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html.
Active-duty service members and DoD civilians stationed overseas and family members residing with them: Call base or installation operators or the Red Cross office at the overseas location.
It is helpful to have the following information ready to give to the caseworker:
Service member’s
- Full name
- Rank/rating
- Branch of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)
- Social Security Number or Date of Birth
- Military address
- Information about the deployed unit and home base unit (for deployed service members only)
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