Our surge registers
Help us respond to humanitarian crises globally across the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.
What are Surge Registers?
Surge Registers are groups of people who are ready to deploy at short notice, in addition to our Global Surge Team.
The Surge Registers help us provide additional humanitarian support in response to global crises.
Members of the Surge Registers are:
- pre-trained
- pre-vetted
- skilled in different technical areas
- temporarily employed for the duration of a deployment.
What technical areas do the Surge Registers cover?
- Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA): Partnering with communities to meet their needs and ensure lasting support even after the Red Cross is gone.
- Communications: Sharing open and honest stories of how the Red Cross helps people affected by disaster.
- Cash: Giving direct cash support so that people in crisis can get what they need, whilst supporting local economies and environments.
- Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL): Helping communities become more stable and resilient through self-reliant, climate-smart solutions for food and income.
- Information Management (IM): Turning data into useful insights to help make better decisions.
- Health: providing specialist clinical care in conflict, disasters, and for public health emergency response.
- Logistics: Making sure essential supplies are sourced, stored and delivered where they’re needed most.
- Management: Coordinating emergency responses and long-term programmes to provide quick, effective aid.
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS): Helping people cope with the emotional and psychological impact of disasters and promoting recovery.
- Restoring Family Links (RFL): unique to the Red Cross Movement, reconnecting families separated by conflict, disaster or migration.
- WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene): providing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene promotion to support disease prevention and emergency response.
All surge registers have different eligibility criteria. For more details and example job descriptions, visit the IFRC Catalogue of Surge Services.
Where do members of the Surge Registers go?
The British Red Cross is part of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. This means that Surge Register members are deployed globally, sometimes into another part of the Movement.
Members are deployed into:
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
This is usually after a conflict when humanitarian needs are greatest.
- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
This is usually in response to disasters, through their Rapid Response system or an Emergency Response Unit.
- One of 191 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world, including the British Red Cross in the UK and overseas.
Surge deployments usually last 1-3 months. Members can also work on longer term and ad-hoc contracts to prepare for disaster when needed.
How to join a Surge Register
We are always happy to hear from people who are interested in joining our Surge Registers. We recruit based on need. This means we cannot guarantee that we will have suitable vacancies or an ongoing recruitment process at any given time.
If you think you are suitably qualified and would like to know when there are opportunities to join, please fill in this Expression of Interest form.
For current employment opportunities with the British Red Cross, visit our jobs page.