The Oceanykan Red Cross is a volunteer organisation of doctors, nurses, medics and paramedics, part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its three main functions within Oceanykan society are to provide affordable healthcare to the population, alleviate the suffering of war, and spread medical knowledge throughout the continent.
To provide Oceanyka's population a degree of affordable healthcare, the Red Cross maintains a vast network of hospitals and clinics even in remote places. Funding for these operations comes from the Department of Knowledge, private donations, cost-return fees, product sales (the ORC is a major producer of medical tools and pharmaceuticals) and backroom deals with local authorities and power-players to provide priority, high-quality healthcare in exchange for vast sums of money. Because of this, the Oceanykan Red Cross one of the largest and most important non-profit corporations in Oceanyka. It also sends large numbers of lone volunteers towards the most remote of populations, providing medical care to small tribes or groups free of charge. Another popular destination for these volunteers is towards warzones, where Red Cross volunteers help to bandage, disinfect and take care of wounded, dispose of corpses, and provide knowledge on the long-term care of wounded fighters. Touching on the last point, Red Cross volunteers are usually experienced medical professionals trained under the University of Cestlep's standards, and one of their most proud traditions is to provide free lessons on the medical sciences in their spare time. This has helped massively reduce the dissemination of false medical practices amongst Oceanyka's more traditional population groups. Unlike in any other country, ORC volunteers are almost always well armed and as trained in combat as any would-be attacker, earning them much criticism from the wider IRCM, but also a constant influx of foreign volunteers (many of which end up settling in Oceanyka).