IRCS, Jammu & Kashmir
What We Do
J&K Red Cross promotes the Humanitarian values, which encourage respect for other human beings and a willingness to work together to mitigate the sufferings of the people who are in need.
We try to reach to the maximum number of people who need our services. Assistance is provided to the people who are the victims of natural and manmade disasters including fire, road traffic accidents, conflict victims, floods etc. and other type of assistance is also provided to the needy.
1.Assistance to the fire victims:
Red Cross in J&K provides immediate assistance to the fire victims. As soon as the information is gathered by the State Office from the Red Cross volunteers and other sources, a team of Red Cross is directed to reach to the spot for assessment. And on the basis of the assessment report, the beneficiaries are provided with the relief items like tents, blankets, mattresses, kitchen sets, clothes, footwear, toiletry products, stationery for children, torches with cells, ration etc. The District Red Cross Committee also provides cash assistance to these victims.
2.Assistance to the conflict victims ( Income Generation Programmes):
Assistance is also provided to the people whose houses get damaged in the conflict. Red Cross team visits the area for assessment and later the victims are provided with the basic items.
Training in stitching/tailoring, computers, transformer fabrication have been provided to the families who have been directly or indirectly hit by the conflict. The aim is to generate a sustainable source of income for such people so that they are able to minimize their problems and the education of their children is ensured.
3.Medical assistance:
Red Cross tries to help the people who cannot afford to purchase the medicines. Cancer patients, patients with kidney problems, asthma etc. are provided with free medicines after proper verifications.
Assistance is also provided in the form of wheel chairs to the otherwise able persons including victims of land mines, traffic accidents, polio cases and others
Red Cross oragnises medical camps in the far flung areas after initial assessment of the areas where there are no health facilities available and tries to provide the medical facilities at the door step of the people. Doctors from different streams are taken for the consultation. Free medicines are provided in such camps. Referrals are also done.
4.Blood donations camps are organized in collaboration with different agencies and hospitals. The blood collected is stored with the hospitals as J&K Red Cross does not have its own Blood Bank. The poor patients who can afford to buy blood are facilitated by Red Cross in arranging the blood for the ones who are in need.
Eye camps are also held in far flung areas and cases are also referred for specialized treatment.
Red Cross runs two free dispensaries for the people in Jammu and Kashmir. The patients have to pay only the cost of the prescription slip which costs not more than Rs.5/-
Door to door Immunization programmes are also held in addition to other immunization programmes.
Awareness camps on health and hygiene and mother and child care are held in far flung areas.
Mobile first- aid camps/ first-aid camps are held and Red Cross has been recognized as a first-aid providing agency and is invited for various programmes by different institutions.
Assistance in hospitals: Our volunteers provide voluntary service to sick and wounded including yatris and people from other states and outside country in different local hospitals. The phone numbers of the State Red Cross officials have been provided to different hospitals so that in case of any emergency hospitals able to contact Red Cross and the services of volunteers are provided to unattended patients. Female volunteers are deputed for attending the female patients in case of need. Patients are also facilitated in different hospitals in case of fixing of the operation dates, undergoing investigations etc.
Ambulatory services:
Ambulatory services are provided to the poor patients free of cost and also at times of emergencies/ conflict Red Cross offers ambulatory services to hospitals for shifting of patients or dead bodies.
Assistance to destitute/widows and orphans
Red Cross provides cash assistance to the destitutes, orphans, widows whose living conditions are not good.
Support to Artificial Limb Centers
Red Cross is supporting the Artificial Limb Centers in hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir and in some institutions. The people who are affected by land mines, traffic accidents and other accidents are provided with free artificial limbs and also wheel chairs.
Disaster Preparedness/Management
The sharp increase in the number of natural disasters countrywide in recent years has prompted the Red Cross to devote more attention to Disaster preparedness activities. These aim to make Red Cross Societies and communities more aware of the risks they face, how to reduce their vulnerability, and how to cope when disaster strikes. Disaster response is one of the core activities of J&K Red Cross. Immediate assistance is provided to the people who are affected in the different type of disasters.
J&K Red Cross has trained volunteers in Disaster Preparedness/ Management almost in all the districts of J&K Red Cross. At present a State Disaster Response Team (SDRT) and District Response Teams (DDRT) in almost all districts are in place. The services of these members are utilized at the times of emergencies. And their phone numbers are placed with the hospitals and the police Deptt. so that their services are utilized at the time of emergencies.
Whenever any disaster strikes at any place, Red Cross provides immediate relief to the disaster victims. The relief is in the form of cash and kind.
Two staff members of J&K Red Cross are members of National Disaster Response Team (NDRT). Some volunteers have been trained at National level on Water & Sanitation and are the members of National Disaster Water Response Team (NDWRT).These members are deputed to other states at times of disasters.
Volunteers Force:
Red Cross is the world’s largest humanitarian organization with its volunteers working in all the 187 National Societies. Volunteers are the backbone of the organization. J&K State Red Cross has also volunteers base present in all the 22 districts. In every district the volunteers work with the District Red Cross Committees.
Capacity building of the volunteers:
Red Cross as a regular activity imparts trainings to its volunteers in the districts. The trainings are imparted on First-aid, Disaster Management/ Preparedness, Family News Service etc
Trainings to the Corporate Sector
Being recognized as a First-aid training giving agency, the Corporate Sector approaches Red Cross for imparting first-Aid to its employees. The aim of these trainings is to save lives at the times of any emergency which can take place at their working place or any other place.
Family News service
IRCS J&K State Branch tries to help people to trace or send messages to their loved ones who have been separated because of conflict, migration, disasters or any other inevitable circumstances when all other means of communication have not been proved successful.
J&K Red Cross has some success stories wherein the contact was maintained after a long span of time. Also during the Leh cloud Burst contact was maintained with 50 families of different states of India and abroad.
