Disaster Management Services (DMS) is one of the major services of the Philippine Red Cross, primarily tasked to deliver humanitarian assistance during emergency and disaster situations. Through its wide network of well-trained, skilled, and committed staff and volunteers across the country, the DMS implements its mandate through an integrated holistic approach to save lives, minimize human suffering, and to reduce losses and damages.

Apart from emergency and disaster situations, DMS has a significant role to build the capacity of communities to minimize the risks, and to immediately cope and recover after the impact of disasters.

Core programs of DMS

Disaster Risk Reduction

Contributes to the development of safe and resilient communities, schools, and workplaces through RC143 in order to capacitate them to prepare, respond, and recover from any emergency situation.

Disaster Preparedness

Strengthens the preparedness capacity of the PRC (both the NHQ and Chapters) for timely and effective response.

Disaster Response

Provides appropriate humanitarian services in the areas of rescue, relief, health, welfare, and emergency shelter to the most vulnerable groups among the total affected population

Disaster Recovery

Involves the provision, restoration and improvement of shelter, livelihood, and basic community facilities, to improve living conditions and reduce disaster risk, supporting long-term approaches of building back better and safer.

The National Blood Services is the Philippine Red Cross’ arm that delivers adequate, safe and quality blood supply to the most vulnerable. Through its 88 blood service facilities nationwide, the PRC has been the leading provider of blood and blood products in the country. The PRC continuously promotes voluntary non-remunerated blood donation to attain adequacy.

Programs

Donor Recruitment and Retention

To meet the increasing demand for blood and augment the national blood requirement, the PRC conducts education and recruitment sessions to encourage regular voluntary blood donations from communities, different companies, organizations, colleges and universities nationwide.

Blood Collection

With different PRC blood service facilities strategically located in the entire country, the PRC collects blood from voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors with their donations accounting to almost 50% share of the nation’s blood supply.

Blood Component Processing

Whole blood donations are separated into components using a special equipment to generate one unit each of red blood cells, plasma and platelets. Thus, one donation can help save three lives.

Blood Storage and Issuance

Once blood is suitable for transfusion, blood is stored in a temperature controlled blood bank refrigerator. Clients or patients needing blood for transfusion may request from any PRC blood facilities upon presentation of blood request form issued by the hospital or physician.

Blood Samaritan Program

The Blood Samaritan Program is aimed mainly to assist indigent patients needing blood transfusion. The PRC seeks kind-hearted individuals/groups that are willing to give financial donations to support the blood needs of the indigents. The donated money covers the payment of blood processing fees of legitimate indigent patients.

Blood Donor Recognition

We have instituted different awards to recognize and thank individuals and different groups who untiringly help us attain our mission. Blood Galloner pins, certificates, medals and plaques are some of the tokens we issue during the annual Blood Donors Recognition Ceremony held every month July in celebration of the Blood Donors Month.

Health Services supports the expansion of primary health care coverage with its community-based health programs. It also ensures timely response to public health emergencies and the delivery of essential health care services in times of disasters. Its program is centered on the importance of health promotion and prevention of diseases.

Health Services also identifies communities with gaps on access to health facilities and services. Health professionals such as nurses, midwives, and doctors who are involved are trained on disaster nursing, emergency field hospital operations, water and sanitation and hygiene. They are mobilized to do health assessments, deliver essential health, services, and health education campaigns.

Programs

Health in Disaster and Emergency

This program focuses in reducing the impact of emergencies and disaster. PRC supports the government in health issues of national concerns through community-based surveillance and epidemic control by Red Cross 143 Community Health Volunteers (CHV). Emergency response involves deployment of emergency medical teams equipped with the modern capability to deploy field hospitals and basic health care units partnered with key hospitals and professional medical organizations.

Primary Health Care

This program aims to create healthy, safe and resilient communities through community-based activities that ensure continuity of care across lifespan. This is achieved through the implementation of Community-based Health and First Aid (CBFHA) approach in the most vulnerable communities. The strategy brings health services closer to the community by mobilizing RC143 CHV to initiate health promotion and diseases prevention and activities and targeted health programming.

As one of the leading providers of first aid training in the world, the Philippine Red Cross’ Safety Services is tasked with a nationwide educational campaign to ensure the health and safety of the Filipino people. It also offers programs that are aligned with international standards.

Welfare Service responds to the needs of the most vulnerable, adhering for the well-being of every individual, and most especially promoting the inherent worth and dignity of human being. The programs and services that has been implemented focuses on the proactive approaches and strategies, together with traditional reactive measures.

Programs

1. Psychosocial Support Program prepares the community to cope and manage their stress and trauma during disaster. It provides support and care activities that help the people of the community during disaster or any crisis situation.
   

2. Restoring Family Links implement activities which aim to prevent separation and disappearance, restore, and maintain contact between family members and clarify the fate of persons reported missing due to uncertainties.

• Tracing - Assistance to locate displaced and missing persons specifically after a disaster that occurred

• Family Visit Program - A PRC and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) program that contributes to safeguarding the well-being of and allowing people detained in connection with armed conflict and situation of violence to establish and remain in contact with their family.

• Emergency Leave Assistance - Provision of health illness and death verification reports required by authorities as a basis for giving possible emergency leave grants to Filipino-US Servicemen.

3. Military Welfare Service provides welfare service/case management, livelihood skills training, and therapeutic/recreation activities for the sick/wounded member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Pursuant to RA 95 as amended by RA 10072, Welfare Services extends a twin program which focuses on the welfare needs of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and their dependents.
   

4. Livelihood Program aims to support restoration of livelihoods of the most vulnerable in the community. The focus is for a short-term immediate intervention; it entails the provision of a cash grant.
   

5. Welfare Programs for Vulnerable Groups

   • Overseas Filipino Workers

   • Technical Support for Persons with Disabilities ( Free Wheelchair)

   • Women in Difficult Situation/Elderly Persons

6. Welfare Desk Management during Disaster a package of programs and services extended to affected population during emergencies and disaster.

8. Hot Meals is an emergency mass feeding activity which is part of an emergency response to meet the nutritional needs of people affected by disasters, armed conflicts or other crisis situation.

9. Referral Service Clients whose need are not within the scope of the Red Cross services are referred to the appropriate agency.
   

10. Capacity Building of Chapters refers to technical and logistics support which are extended to the chapters by conducting various trainings for both staff and volunteers such as:

• Psychosocial Support Training

• Restoring Family Links

• Welfare Desk Management

• Case Management

As part of its work to reunite families separated by conflicts, PRC and ICRC continue to work on tracing services on the ground. If you have missing family member displaced by disasters, armed conflicts, or any unlikely situation, you may visit https://familylinks.icrc.org/Philippines.

Become a Volunteer

Volunteer Service Office handles programs aim at encouraging people to become an army of volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) by sharing their resources, time, and efforts to alleviate human suffering. It takes active charge of the administration, development, growth, and effective mobilization of volunteers in all aspects of PRC services within the chapter’s jurisdiction in particular and/or the whole country.

While this office delivers its service through recruitment, engagement and retention of volunteers, it also gives recognition to the outstanding individuals who rendered significant contribution to the organization.

The delivery of essential services of the PRC is powered by the committed service of volunteers who unselfishly devotes time, energy, and resources in serving humanity.

Red Cross 143 Program

Red Cross 143 is a community-based volunteering program of the Philippine Red Cross where one leader and a minimum of forty three (43) members form part of an active corps of capable, caring, and committed individuals. RC 143 promotes a culture of self-help in the communities by developing a formidable network of Red Cross volunteers who will predict potential risk, plan, prepare, and practice for effective community based disaster risk reduction.

The Red Cross Youth in the Philippines is constituted by children, adolescents, and young adults aged 7 to 25 years old. Their role and engagement in the humanitarian works of the Philippine Red Cross provides them an area to realize their potential in humanitarian leadership.

Programs

PLEDGE 25

Established in 1997, Pledge 25 gathers you who commit to voluntary donation of blood three to four times a year starting the age of 18 until they reach 25 years old. After this period, they will be joining other blood donor’s group such as the Blood Galloners Club of the National Blood Services for their regular and continuous blood donation

JUNIOR FIRST AIDERS PROGRAM

The centerpiece of this program is the development of life-saving skills among Junior Red Cross Youth members in the elementary school level. The idea behind it is to have at least one well trained Junior First Aid Team in every school. All members will have to wear the official RCY uniforms while on duty in the campus or in the clinic.

Wash, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

WASH Office is in charge of developing, implementing, and responding to priorities and needs presented, especially during emergency situations. It aims to promote hygiene, improve access to water, and sanitation facilities in a long-term programming.

WASH Office ensures timely and efficient provision of support to disaster-affected communities.

Programs

Recovery and Sustainable Programming Capacities

Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST)

PHAST seeks to help communities improve hygiene behaviors, prevent diarrheal diseases, and encourage the community on proper management of water and sanitation facilities through participatory methods.

Children’s Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (CHAST)

CHAST uses a child-to-child approach and encourages children to actively participate in open discussions and share their experiences and ideas with their peers, teachers, and community.

Construction or Rehabilitation of WASH Facilities

Facilities will play a vital role in sustaining the improved hygiene behaviors of the pupils as these will enable them to religiously practice proper sanitation and hygienic manners.

WASH Maintenance Plan and Capacity-Building

Its main objective is to strengthen the disaster response capacity (Water and Sanitation- WatSan) of the Philippine Red Cross through detailed mapping of existing resources (emergency response equipment and trained personnel) to allow gaps to be identified for further resource mobilization.

Disaster and Emergency Response Capacities

Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation in Emergency Response (PHASTER)

PHASTER is used during health emergencies with WASH origin, such as cholera or typhoid outbreaks. This is done within 2-3 months and can be implemented without a permanent structure during the response period.

Health and Hygiene Promotion in Emergency Response (HHPER)

This tool is utilized during operations resulting from a disaster, wherein Red Cross 143 health volunteers are trained to deliver key messages on personal hygiene, environmental sanitation, safe drinking water, proper food handling, prevention of vector-borne and WASH-related diseases, and gender-based topics.

Deployment of WASH Equipment and Trained Personnel

PRC has prepositioned equipment and trained personnel in several strategic chapters for immediate response during disasters or public health emergencies.

Mobilization of equipment is always accompanied of either PHASTER or HHPER to ensure that hygienic behaviors and sanitation practices are also addressed.

Distribution of WASH-related items (Water Containers, Hygiene Kits, Mosquito Nets, Soaps)

This is done during disasters or public health emergencies, and will depend on the identified priority needs during the assessment. The contents will also depend on the identified beneficiaries (Family, Children or Students, Women of Reproductive Age), and the number will depend on the stocks or fund support availability.

The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Office is mainly responsible for the advocacy, promotion and dissemination of the seven fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality), dissemination of the basics of IHL, and the advocacy for the domestic legislation and measures to implement provisions of the Geneva Conventions and other related laws for PRC.

Programs

National Moot Court Competition on IHL

An annual event held every last quarter of the year, the National Moot Court Competition on IHL is organized jointly by PRC and, ICRC. The IHL Office serves as the overall coordinator and secretariat of the event. The competition aims to provide a venue for law students to become acquainted with and proficient in IHL issues.The competition is based on a hypothetical war problem leading to a charge of war crimes against the military commander. The participants are tasked to write memorials and orally argue both for the prosecution and the defense using the different laws and principles of international humanitarian law.

The Emergency Response Unit is a 24/7 response team dedicated to provide assistance in search and rescue, firefighting, medical, and trauma incidents under DMS.

Through the help of volunteers, use of vital emergency vehicles and rescue equipment, swift responses and rescue operations are easily delivered to the most needy.

The state-of-the-art 24/7 Operations Center of the Philippine Red Cross serves as the nerve center of the organization that commands, controls and delivers information just in time, on time, all the time.

Its main functions are to manage data and information from all 103 to 104 PRC chapters nationwide, monitor incidents through various platforms, mobilize volunteers and staff during incidents, record all reports received from volunteers and staff, monitor progress of all PRC responses to incidents, take charge of dispatching all PRC assets, and handle calls from PRC 143 Hotline.