Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-11-19
Red Cross Relief Boon
to Stricken Community
F1UMANITY,S WOUNDS HEALED
BY TIMELY AID IN TIME OF
CALAMITY AND TRIAL

When disaster strikes bewildered
victims of calamity turn to the Ameri
can Red Cross as their natural pro-
tectOr and the only organization in
the United States equipped to handle
not only the immediate relief work
but the ultimate rehabilitation Of the
stricken area.
In the confusion and despair which
follows the juggernaut Of disaster the
Red Cross workers bring the begin
nings of hope, Of order and of plan.
Quickly and. completely they supple
ment the provision already made for
emergency relief-the care of the
wounded, the housing, clothing and
feeding of refugees. In some quiet
place, apart from the turmoil of first
aid and first relief the leaders of the
community sit in council with the per-
sonal representative of the Vice Chair
Ss6 of the American National Red
Cross. They hear from him the ex-
perience of other stricken commune
ties now restored, they receive and
take his proffer of Red Cross coop
GRAFTON until their own rehabilitation
shall be complete, and they designate
authorized representatives to serve on
an advisory committee.
Six months or year later this com
mittao and thn Pod Crocc ronrnconto
tive survey the results of the labor of
rehabilitation. They look upon COM
munity rebuilt and restored, wherein
the actual needs resulting from the
disaster have been fully met in every
family. An audit by the War Depart,
men1 assures them that every cent of
the relief fund has been spent prop
rly for disaster relief Except for the
irrparable loss of loved ones and the
results of serious personal injuries,
the community stands restored rehab-
ilitated, it's homes rebuilt and return
ished, the widows and orphans of the
disaster provided for, farms restored,
Such has been the uniform expert
ence of hundreds of American towns
and countrysides since 1905. The de,
velopment of the, knowledge, the skill
and the technique that can assure
such a result is one of the outstand-
ing achievements of the American gen
JUS for organization and perhaps the
most spectacularly recent develop
ment in social work.
The outstanding characteristic of
the. disaster technique of the Ameri-
can Red Cross is it's efficiency. 1t
works i'll the varied emergency situar
tions to which it is applied. 1t is at
once the conclusive vindication of the
lease work" method and the most
convincing evidence that this method
is not rigid. Disaster case work is
stripped to the gears" of all non
essentials, and experienced disaster
casetworhers proceed with rapidity
surprising to first observers, and with
equally surprising sureness. The
fourteen points of the disaster face
sheet, competently covered and COM
petently judged, result almost invari-
ably in just awards, the rightness of
which the family worker can demon.
strate to client, business man, or fell
low social worker. The best proof, of
course, is the uniformity with which
clients build back, refurnish, and
again take up their former lives with
the assistance granted. This excel
lence of disaster case work appears
to be the striking development of dis
aster technique within the past ten
years.
There have been other important
developments in the technique of dis
aster relief Notable among these is
the development of the medical direc-
torship with individual attention to
the welfare of all INJURED persons thru
consultation and supervision Of hos
pitfalls and clinics. The medical dir
ector is valuable also, in cooperation
with constituted authorities, in deal
ing with all problems of public health
Continued on back page.)