Volunteers to Tap Into Red Cross Private Network

The American Red Cross learned a lot about the information age in the hectic days following the Oklahoma City bombing last year.

Having posted basic information about the disaster on the organization’s newly created Internet site, Red Cross officials were stunned when the site got more than 50,000 hits. Many of those were from Red Cross volunteers across the country, who were disappointed that the site didn’t include detailed response plans, status reports and other critical information.

Trouble is, that’s not always the kind of information the Red Cross wants to share with the world. After all, early information can sometimes be wrong, and that can be heart-wrenching for people who are trying to find out about survivors.

So in an effort to take advantage of the communications potential of the Internet, while not releasing sensitive information, the Red Cross is using the help of Irvine-based HLC.internet Inc. to build its own Intranet.

Over this private network, which works like the Internet but is accessible only to those with Red Cross software, the organization can tell its volunteers when they’re needed, where they should go and what they should bring. The organization will even be able to conduct training courses over the network, said Edward Stern, the Red Cross official in charge of the project.

“It’s an elaborate new tool for us,” said Stern, who added that the network will be operating within weeks. “Every time we have a meeting about this, somebody comes up with a great new idea about how to use it.”

Eventually, the system could replace the organization’s slow-footed communications channel, which involves faxing weekly news lists to chapters across the country, where they are then copied and mailed to local volunteers, or sometimes just placed on bulletin boards.

To take part in the Intranet, Red Cross volunteers will have to use software developed by HLC and provided for free. They will also need to subscribe to HLC’s Internet access service, which costs $9.95 per month, the same as most online services. The volunteers will have complete access to both the Internet and the Intranet, and 7% of those fees goes back to the Red Cross to help pay for the program.

Stern said the organization expects only a fraction of its 1.4 million volunteers nationwide to join the program at first. But the number could grow rapidly.

For HLC, the Red Cross connection could dramatically boost the company’s customer base. “It’s going to take the several thousand dial-up customers we have now and turn that into a much larger number,” said Gil Lovett, a spokesman for the company.

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Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com.