Support for Members of the Military and Their Families

In addition to its chapter headquarters at 2912 South 80th Avenue in Omaha, NE, the Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross maintains an office at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, NE and offers services to active duty and community-based military and their families.

Using the latest in computer and telecommunications technology, Red Cross sends communications on behalf of family members who are facing emergencies or other important events such as the birth of a child to members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving all over the world, including ships at sea, embassies and isolated military units. The information or verification in a message assists the service member's commanding officer with making a decision regarding emergency leave.
These communications are delivered around-the-clock, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Red Cross workers at Offutt Air Force brief departing service members and their families regarding available support services and explain how the Red Cross may assist them during their deployment. Both active duty and community-based military can count on the Red Cross to provide emergency communications that link them with their families back home, access to financial assistance, counseling and assistance to veterans.
Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services personnel work in nearly 900 chapters in the United States, on 74 military installations around the world and with our troops in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

How to Contact the Red Cross to Send an Emergency Message

• Active duty service members stationed in the United States and their immediate family members may call the Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Service Centers for help 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The toll-free telephone number is available through base or installation operators and from local on-base Red Cross offices. Persons in the Omaha area should use the number listed above. 
• Other family members who do not reside in the service members' household, members of the National Guard and Reserves, retirees and civilians may access Red Cross services through their local Red Cross chapter.  In Omaha, that is the Heartland Chapter, (402) 343-7700.
• Overseas personnel stationed on military installations should call base or installation operators or the on-base Red Cross offices.
• At overseas deployment sites, contact the American Red Cross deployed staff.

When calling the Red Cross to send an emergency message to a family member, it is helpful to have the following information:
Service member’s:

• Full Name
• Rank/Rating
• Branch of Service
• Social Security Number
• Military Address
• Information about the deployed unit and the home base unit (for deployed service members only)

Operation Vidi Connect

If you are the friend or family member of a military person stationed overseas, the Red Cross will help you send a 2-minute video e-mail to that person, free of charge. Click here for more information, including a schedule of dates and locations of tapings in the Omaha area.

© Copyright 2005 The American Red Cross. All Rights Reserved.