Spontaneous contributions through a variety of channels are usually sufficient for immediate needs, and the Red Cross is following its customary policy of reserving as much of its funds as possible for permanent rehabilitation. When a disaster comes in any part of the country the nearest "institutional members" of the Red Cross at once dispatch trained members of their staffs to the scene. Each organization has an "emergency box" containing, convenient for carrying, an equipment including detailed printed instructions, record cards, Red Cross flag, expense sheets, vouchers, etc. The use of this equipment, especially the uniform record cards, which have been carefully prepared on the basis of the San Francisco experience, means that help is not lost or wasted, but gets to the people who need it most. Even more important, it means that help is given not merely to keep victims of the disaster from starvation and exposure during the weeks immediately following, but to afford a reasonable lift on the road to the recovery of the standard of living maintained before the disaster.
This emphasis on rehabilitation is the message of a report[1] which, by a coincidence, was on the press for the Russell Sage Foundation when news of tornado and flood came from the middle West. It is the first comprehensive review of emergent relief work following great disasters. It is based on the San Francisco experience and put forth as a "book of ready reference for use on occasions of special emergency."
[1] San Francisco Relief Survey. By Charles J. O'Connor. Francis H. McLean and others. Survey Associates, Inc., for the Russell Sage Foundation. To be published April 18, the seventh anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake. Price postpaid $3.50. Orders for delivery on publication day may be sent to THE SURVEY.
The volume presents a study of the organization and methods of relief following the San Francisco earthquake and fire, made for the Foundation by a group of people who held responsible positions in connection with the relief work. It is to appear on April 18, the seventh anniversary of the disaster.
For the assistance of those in the middle West upon whom heavy responsibilities came so suddenly, the Sage Foundation sent out post haste advance copies of the first two sections of the report as a practical handbook to charity organizations in and near the stricken regions.