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.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 — As part of an ongoing effort to better serve the military community, the American Red Cross has moved to a single telephone number for its emergency communication services.

Beginning June 13, 2011, 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.  “U.S. military personnel and their families can remain confident that the Red Cross will be there to keep them connected when there is a crisis at home.”

A call to 877-272-7337 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.

 

How to Contact the Red Cross for Assistance

Call (877) 272-7337 (toll-free) if you are an Active duty service member stationed in the United States, or a family member residing with them.

We're here to help every day, all day. After hours you can phone 1-877-272-7238 for assistance.

Contact your local Red Cross chapter, (740)772-2014 and at Your Local Red Cross, if you are:

• Family members of active duty service members who do not reside in the service members' household,
• Family members of Department of Defense Civilians assigned overseas
• members of the National Guard and Reserves,
• recruiters, MEPS military personnel
• veterans and
• civilians

Call overseas base or installation operators or the Red Cross office at your location if you are:

•  Active-duty service members and family members residing with them or
•  Department of Defense civilians stationed overseas and family members 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
• Rank/rating
• Branch of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)
• Social Security Account number or date of birth
• Military address
• Information about the deployed unit and home base unit (for deployed service members only)