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| Legal Authority |
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| In 1859, Swiss businessman Henri Dunant visited
the northern Italian battlefield of Solferino and was deeply
affected by the effects of war on the lives and dignity of
both combatants and civilians. The memoir he wrote inspired
the 1863 founding of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC).
In 1864, representatives from eleven countries adopted ten
articles for the purpose of "mitigating the evils inseparable
from war…" and recommended "that there exist
in every country a committee whose mission consists in cooperating
in times of war with the hospital service of the armies by
all means in its power."
A few years later, based on her experiences during the American
Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War, Clara Barton urged
the United States to become a member of the Red Cross and
extend its services to include disaster relief. In July 1881,
"The American National Association of the Red Cross"
was incorporated, and that same year the Red Cross appealed
for clothing and funds to aid victims of forest fires in Michigan.
In 1884, Red Cross chartered steamers to take supplies down
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to help flooded families,
and in 1889 helped provide relief to those affected by the
great Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania.
"An Act to Incorporate the American National
Red Cross" (33 Stat. 599)
The American Red Cross received its first Congressional Charter
in 1900 and recharted in 1905. The Charter is considered to
be the founding corporate document of the organization and
provides for the existence, charge and governance of the organization
at its highest level. The Charter is akin to a constitution
or Articles of Incorporation and takes precedence over all
other corporate regulations. The Charter is federal legislation
and thus falls under the exclusive authority of the United
States Congress and the President of the United States.
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The American Red Cross National
Headquarters is responsible for implementing policies and
regulations that govern American Red Cross activities, and
for giving administrative and technical supervision and guidance
to the chartered units. Each chartered unit has the authority
and responsibility for carrying out the purposes of the American
Red Cross, for delivering local American Red Cross services,
and for meeting corporate obligations within the territorial
jurisdiction assigned in conformity with corporate regulations.
| The Ouachita Parish Chapter
was officially chartered on June 22, 1917. On
August 19, 1996, the chapter was re-chartered as the
Northeast Louisiana Chapter to include ten additional
parishes. Those parishes are Caldwell, East Carroll,
Franklin, Jackson, Madison, Morehouse, Richland, Tensas,
Union and West Carroll. |
> Read the Congressional Charter
> Read about other Legal
Authorities & Applicable Acts
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| Congressional
Charter of the American National Red Cross |
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Section 1 - Organization |
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(a) FEDERAL CHARTER. The American National Red Cross
(in this chapter, the "corporation") is a body
corporate and politic in the District of Columbia.
(b) NAME. The name of the corporation is "The American
National Red Cross".
(c) PERPETUAL EXISTENCE. Except as otherwise provided,
the corporation has perpetual existence. |
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Section 2 - Purposes
The purposes of the corporation are:
(1) to provide volunteer aid in time of war to the sick
and wounded of the armed forces, in accordance with the
spirit and conditions of: |
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(a) the conference of Geneva of October, 1863;
(b) the treaties of the Red Cross, or the treaties of
Geneva, of August 22, 1864, July 27, 1929, and August
12, 1949, to which the United States of America has given
its adhesion; and
(c) any other treaty, convention, or protocol similar
in purpose to which the United States of America has given
or may give its adhesion; |
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(2) in carrying out the purposes described
in clause (1) of this section, to perform all the duties
devolved on a national society by each nation that has
acceded to any of those treaties, conventions, or protocols;
(3) to act in matters of voluntary relief and in accordance
with the military authorities as a medium of communication
between the people of the United States and the armed
forces of the United States and to act in those matters
between similar national societies of governments and
other countries through the International Committee of
the Red Cross and the Government, the people, and the
armed forces of the United States; and
(4) to carry out a system of national and international
relief in time of peace, and apply that system in mitigating
the suffering caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods,
and other great national calamities, and to devise and
carry on measures for preventing the same.  |
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| Other
Legal Authorities & Applicable Acts |
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The authority of the American Red Cross
to provide disaster services was reaffirmed by federal
law in the 1974 Disaster Relief Act (Public Law
93-288) and in the 1988 Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act - Sec. 302(b)(3)
PL 93-288 as amended. It states -
…nothing contained in this Act shall
limit or in any way affect the responsibilities of the
American National Red Cross under the Act of January
5, 1905…
This law defines the role of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) and makes it responsible for
coordinating the federal response to situations for
which the President of the United States issues a disaster
declaration. The Red Cross and FEMA cooperate under
a Statement of Understanding between the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and The American National
Red Cross, which outlines their respective
roles and describes how the two agencies work together.
As a provider of human services, the Red Cross is committed
to embracing the principles of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). Red Cross is also
committed to the spirit of the Privacy Act of
1974 in handling the records of American Red
Cross personnel and in service matters.
In April 2003, the Health Insurance Privacy
& Portability Act (HIPPA) became effective.
This law was designed to protect the privacy of all
patients. However, the law, 45 C.F.R. § 164.5l0,
allows hospitals and physicians to disclose Personal
Health Information (PHI) to chartered organizations
such as the Red Cross in order to assist in the notification
of family members in military service of family emergencies.
Specifically, section 164.510(b)(1)(ii) permits a covered
entity to disclose PHI to notify--or to assist in the
notification of--a family member of a patient's condition
or death.
If the patient is available, the hospital or physician
can provide the PHI, if: 1) the patient orally agrees
to provide it; 2) the patient is given an opportunity
to object to disclosure and declines to do so; or 3)
the healthcare provider infers from circumstances that
the patient does not object to disclosure [45 C.F.R.
§§ 164.510(b)(1) & (b)(2)].
If the patient is incapacitated, and has no opportunity
to agree or object, the hospital or physician can authorize
disclosure of the PHI. If the hospital or physician
determines that it would be in the best interests of
the patient, then they can authorize release of the
PHI [45 C.F.R. § 164.510(b)(3)]. |
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