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Disaster Welfare Inquiry

POLICY:
The Red Cross is expected to respond quickly to requests for information about the welfare of individuals in disaster-stricken areas. These requests are handled by Disaster Welfare Inquiry (DWI) workers. The requests usually come from outside the chapter's area; in some instances they are from individuals. Inquiries are screened to ensure that they are submitted only by immediate family members or close relatives. The Disaster Health Service is the unit responsible for obtaining verified information on the ill, injured, hospitalized and dead for Disaster Welfare Inquiry purpose.

The Red Cross does not release casualty lists publicly or notify families unless specifically asked to do so by public officials or officials of a transit carrier. The Red Cross does not categorize people as missing, since that is the responsibility of public authorities.

Information on casualties for DWI shall include:

The victim's name, age and sex.

The diagnosis and condition.

The preemergency address.

The present location (i.e., the name of the hospital or shelter or the postemergency address or name of the funeral home or morgue).

Verified information is obtained from direct contact with the physician, nursing or hospital administration, or the coroner's office.

Information is provided to the DWI cadre from the Victim Registration Log. Cooperative arrangements with hospitals during preparedness planning can expedite the process of obtaining a list of names of patients who have been treated and released or who are currently hospitalized, as well as the other information listed above.

Where the number of casualties is large, a master list of injured and dead shall be developed and updated daily. All information regarding casualty lists will be shared with the operations director, the DWI Cadre, Family Service and Nursing and Health Services counterparts in the chapter.

US Patent Numbers 7,720,998 B2, 7,836,207