About CDIS

Each year the American Red Cross responds to more than 67,000 local and national disasters, such as house fires, floods, storms, forest fires, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks. Red Cross Disaster Services is responsible for meeting the needs of disaster victims. Red Cross workers are specifically responsible for assessing the immediate needs of the victims and connecting them with appropriate assistance (e.g. replacement of medications, providing mental health referrals, food, and sheltering). In these situations, immediate access to complete, reliable information regarding the location and availability of services and products within the affected community is critical. Yet, this key local information is often not complete, easily accessible, or reliable.

The goal of the project is to develop, deploy, and evaluate the Community Disaster Information System (CDIS). The system provides Red Cross workers in the field with immediate access to high quality community resource information during times of disaster. Additionally it will provide Red Cross executives a national database for future decision making. The project is funded by a three year grant, beginning May 2004, from the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine.

CDIS supports American Red Cross chapters in responding to disasters. CDIS is a service provided by Miami University’s Resource Data Center. Funding for CDIS is provided in part through the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health.

CDIS is currently undergoing field testing at select Red Cross chapters. Your input is vital to the success of the project. Your ideas will assist the RDC in refining the system for deployment at the national level.

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