HOW TO PUT IN A RED CROSS MESSAGE 3-69 AR, 1ABCT When a military family experiences a crisis, the American Red Cross is there to help. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the Red Cross relays urgent messages containing accurate, factual, complete and verified descriptions of the emergency to service members stationed anywhere in the world, including on ships at sea and at embassies and remote locations. Red Cross emergency communications services keep military personnel in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of an immediate family member, the birth of a service member's child or grandchild or when a family faces other emergencies. Red Cross-verified information assists commanding officers with making a decision regarding emergency leave. A Red Cross message is required before a service member can be granted emergency leave or before Family Members can have access to Emergency Travel. Without this verification, the service member would not be able to come home during a family crisis. How to Contact the Red Cross for Assistance:
Call (877) 272-7337
if you are an Active duty service member stationed in the United States, or a family member residing with them. When calling the Red Cross, please provide as much of the following information about the service member as is known:
Full name Soldier’s Rank Branch of service Soldiers’ Social Security Account number or date of birth Rear Detachment Address (3-69 AR (Rear), 515 Warrior Road, BLDG 648, Fort Stewart, GA 31314) RD Phone Number: 3-69 BN Staff Duty 912-767-4595 If the emergency is medical you will be asked to provide the contact information for the Medical Facility and the attending physician
Red Cross Lessons Learned: Don’t wait! If you are experiencing an emergency where travel and/or emergency leave need to be initiated in a short amount of time, call in your Red Cross message ASAP! Do not contact the Rear Detachment (RD) first, as nothing can be done until the unit receives an official Red Cross message. Once you initiate the message, you can then inform the RD that a message is on the way. Once they have the message in hand they can contact you with further instructions. If you are in the hospital, whether it is Military or Civilian, the staff can call in a Red Cross Message on your behalf. If able, please make sure to request assistance in putting in a Red Cross Message. The message verification process is not instantaneous. There is often a delay of several hours - sometimes more, especially if verification is required from a civilian doctor. If the doctor has gone off of duty or is otherwise unreachable, it slows the entire process down. Be sure to inform the physician that you have contacted the Red Cross and they will be contacting them for more information. Be sure to instruct the operator to send a notification to both the Rear Detachment. Since the Rear Detachment processes the paperwork for emergency travel, they need this information ASAP in order to get Soldiers or Family Members on flights in a timely manner. Family Members who do not reside with the Soldier need to contact their local Red Cross Chapter to put in a Red Cross Message, this number should be located in their local phone book or they can call the 877 number and ask for the local chapter number.