The American Red Cross is an organization that seeks to alleviate human suffering at the hands of emergencies by utilizing volunteerism. The organization focuses on domestic disaster response and support for the responders to those disasters, such as the armed forces.
The American Red Cross uses the gold-standard products for most of its research and service. For disaster response, the ARC utilizes the good-will of its volunteers to address needs such as shelter, food, and health services. On the local level, chapters of the ARC have disaster action teams that respond to smaller emergencies and provide transition services to the victims of such emergencies. They also have a larger wokforce of volunteers to pull from and use for support services.
Funding for the ARC comes from donations, selling of health and safety products designed by the red cross, and the selling of blood products collected by the red cross.
The ARC is almost like the founding group in diaster response. Its policies and guidelines are the framework for many organizations in the United States and abroad. So, it doesn't really promote a new way of addressing emergency response, as it is the original.
The ARC conducts research continuously to provide quality support in the context of CPR, disaster response, and blood collection.
The American Red Cross has created a number of structures that contribute to disaster response. Its contributions to the National Response Framework and its close ties with FEMA make it a large player in the national emergency response network. The ARC provides guidelines on subjects like CPR that play into the emergency response of individuals and agencies. Overall, the ARC approaches disaster response with an "all in it together" view, with volunteers being the backbone of all its efforts.
There have been a number of controversial events and policies that have affected ARC policy. One of the most notable ones is the controversy in blood donation from gay men. The FDA requires that no blood can be taken from a man who has had sex with anohter man since 1977. The ARC petitioned the FDA in 2006 for the removal of the policy, though nothing has been done to address it yet.
The membership is mostly volunteers. Anyone who volunteers to donate blood, work at a center, or provide care is automatically a member of the organization as a whole. Of course, they have employees as well to provide professional care services and the organization is governed by a board as well as a CEO and President.
The largest challenge faced by the ARC seems to be organizing such a large group of volunteers for specific response. There are so many different pieces to disaster respones, and with mostly volunteers organizing things, a strong central leadership is needed, which seems to be lacking in the group as a whole.