AMERICAN RED CROSS MAKING CLIENT SERVICE FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT

AMERICAN RED CROSS MAKING CLIENT SERVICE FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT: "WASHINGTON, Wednesday, September 07, 2005 — Traditionally, one of the first things a disaster survivor sees at a Red Cross shelter, after a smile, is a registration form. Beginning this week, the smiles remain, but the burden of paperwork is being eased.

The American Red Cross is bringing the power of computers into its shelters to speed the sometimes tedious but essential task of registering shelter residents.

On Sept. 6, a shipment of 400 notebook computers arrived at the giant shelters at the Houston Astrodome and convention center, where trained shelter workers are transferring residents' data into a common database. An additional 400 units are earmarked for San Antonio and hundreds more will go into shelters in several states over the coming weeks."