Red Cross moves Armed Forces to single number

Monday, June 13, 2011

As part of an ongoing effort to better serve the military community, the American Red Cross has recently announced its Service to the Armed Forces program will move to a single telephone number for its emergency communication services.

Beginning June 13, all military members and their families can use one number, 877-272-7337 (U.S. Toll Free), to send an urgent message to a service member.

The change means that all military members and their families can use this single number to initiate an emergency communication, regardless of where they live. In the past, community-based military or families living outside an installation needed to remember the phone number for their local Red Cross chapters for emergency communications, while those living on a military installation used the 877-272-7337 number.

"An emergency situation can be a very stressful time for a military family, and having just one common telephone number to remember can make a difficult situation a little easier," said Sherri Brown, Senior Vice President for Service to the Armed Forces.

A call to this single number allows Red Cross emergency communications services to put 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. Additional Red Cross services such as case management and emergency financial assistance also are available. For those stationed overseas, the three options for calling will remain the same: calling 877-272-7337 direct, accessing the number through a military operator, or calling the local Red Cross station.

If you do call your local American Red Cross, you need to have the following information ready to give to them: your family member's first and last name and middle initial, their rank and branch of service, their social security number, and their military address, unit or deployed address.

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