with the outbreak of world war i, the icrc found itself confronted with enormous challenges which it could only handle by working closely with the national red cross societies. red cross nurses from around the world, including the united states and japan, came to support the medical services of the armed forces of the european countries involved in the war. on 15 october 1914, immediately after the start of the war, the icrc set up its international prisoners-of-war (pow) agency, which had about 1,200 mostly volunteer staff members by the end of 1914. by the end of the war, the agency had transferred about 20 million letters and messages, 1.9 million parcels, and about 18 million swiss francs in monetary donations to pows of all affected countries. furthermore, due to the intervention of the agency, about 200,000 prisoners were exchanged between the warring parties, released from captivity and returned to their home country. the organizational card index of the agency accumulated about 7 million records from 1914 to 1923, each card representing an individual prisoner or missing person. the card index led to the identification of about 2 million pows and the ability to contact their families, as part of the restoring family links effort of the organization. the complete index is on loan today from the icrc to the international red cross and red crescent museum in geneva. the right to access the index is still strictly restricted to the icrc.