Volunteer opportunities exist on several levels:
- Community Support Volunteer
- State Deployable Voluntee
- Medical Reserve Corps Volunteer
- National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Volunteer
Community Support Volunteer:
This level of participation will allow you to assist during medical events in your community such as health fairs and immunization clinics. Minimal training will be needed to participate at this level. Both medical and non-medical personal are needed. Participants at this level are not considered to be deployable for disasters or medical emergencies.
This level will require:
- Current Medical Licensure or Certification if appropriate
- Completion of online and onsite training
- Training
- IS- 100: Introduction to the Incident Command System
- IS- 200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
- IS- 700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
- Online course: Intro to CPHMVS
- Online course: Disaster Behavior Health Awareness
- Online course: Disasters in Colorado
- Classroom course: CPHMVS New Member Training (morning session only – 4hrs)
- Conditions that you may be required to work in when volunteering for this level:
- Lift and carry up to 20 pounds repeatedly
- Sit and work for two hour periods
- Work 12 hour shifts, nights, and / or weekends
State Deployable Volunteer
State Deployable Volunteer:
This level of participation will allow you to respond to medical emergencies and disasters within your county and possibly to disaster situations in other parts of the state. Activities may include working in hospitals, immunization clinics and pharmacy distribution points. Both medical and non-medical personal are needed.
The following items need to be completed combined with a successful CPHMVS application and background check, for consideration as a "deployable" volunteer:
Training
- IS- 100: Introduction to the Incident Command System
- IS- 200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
- IS- 700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
- Online course: Intro to CPHMVS
- Online course: Disaster Behavior Health Awareness
- Online course: Disasters in Colorado
- Classroom course: CPHMVS New Member Training (all day training – 8 hrs)
License / Certifications
- Copy of License(s)
- Copy of Cert(s)
- Physical Abilities
- Ability to lift 50 lbs.
- Ability to stand for up to two hours
Vaccinations
The following immunizations are recommended for all participants in the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System. Keep records of your immunizations, as they are your responsibility to maintain. If you are not up to date on these shots/boosters, you may not be considered a deployable volunteer.
Highly Recommended
- MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) 2 doses after 1st birthday
- Tetanus: Childhood series (DTP/DtaP) AND TdaP booster (Tetanus,
- Diphtheria, and acellular Pertussis) within the last 5 years.
- Varicella (Chickenpox) 2 doses after 1st birthday
- Polio: 3 doses- routine childhood series
If participating in a health care position:
- Hep B (six months to complete series: 0, 1, 6 mo) 3 doses
Recommended
- Influenza (Annually)
- Hep A (if situation dictates having one) 1 dose provides protection
- Meningococcal (if situation dictates) 1 dose necessary for 3-5 years protection
- Pneumococcal (age or risk dependent)
Optional
- Tuberculosis Screening (not skin test) A paper questionnaire annually
Medical Reserve Corps Volunteer
Recommendations for Non-Deployable MRC’s
(community level only)
- National MRC Core Competencies (see fact sheet)
- All other training locally defined
Support Resources for Deployable MRC’s
(community, state or national levels)
This level of participation involves a higher degree of training and commitment. It includes medical professionals and support staff that would be used for emergencies in your county, throughout the state of Colorado and possibly in other states. During a health emergency, these personnel would likely be used to work at hospitals, field hospitals and surge capacity hospitals.
Recommendations for “DEPLOYABLE” MRC units:
- Background/Criminal History Check
- MRC Standard Operating Procedures Training (locally defined)
- Incident Command System (ICS) Training
FEMA or Equivalent
- IS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System
- IS-200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
- IS-700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
Emergency Response Training
- Local Hospital, Public Health Agency, Fire Department, Red Cross or Equivalent
- Adult, Infant & Child CPR with First Aid & AED
- Blood borne Pathogens
- Disaster Mental Health
- Emergency Response
- Mass Casualty in Disaster
- Personal Disaster Preparedness
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Personal Scene Safety
- Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START)
Physical Abilities
- Ability to lift 50 lbs.
Ability to stand for up to two hours
Vaccinations
The following immunizations are recommended for all participants in the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System. Keep records of your immunizations, as they are your responsibility to maintain. If you are not up to date on these shots/boosters, you may not be considered a deployable volunteer.
Highly Recommended
- MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) 2 doses after 1st birthday
- Tetanus: Childhood series (DTP/DtaP) AND TdaP booster (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and acellular Pertussis) within the last 5 years.
- Varicella (Chickenpox) 2 doses after 1st birthday
- Polio: 3 doses- routine childhood series
If participating in a health care position:
- Hep B (six months to complete series: 0, 1, 6 mo) 3 doses
Recommended
- Influenza (Annually)
- Hep A (if situation dictates having one) 1 dose provides protection
- Meningococcal (if situation dictates) 1 dose necessary for 3-5 years protection
- Pneumococcal (age or risk dependent)
Optional
- Tuberculosis Screening (not skin test) A paper questionnaire annually
National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Volunteer
While NOT a requirement to participate in the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System, you are welcome to join the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) and participate as a volunteer at the federal level.
The National Medical Response Team (NMRT) Central is one of many federal assets that are located in the State of Colorado. The NMRT is part of the NDMS under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Team members are considered intermittent emergency government employees and are paid for training and deployment time. Worker’s compensation and medical liability insurance are also covered during training and deployment.
The NMRT is a mass decontamination and medical care task force that is rapidly deployable anywhere in the United States or it’s territories. The NMRT-Central is one of three mass decontamination teams within FEMA and the only response team in the system that has the ability to be “wheels up” on commercial aircraft in four hours. The NMRT-Central is now the only “all hazard” team within NDMS and deploys with 60 medical and non-medical specialists capable of decontaminating up to 1000 patients an hour or treating up to 200 patients a day in a medical setting. The NMRT has been deployed to several high-profile events including:
1996 Summer Olympics - Atlanta
TOPOFF I - New Hampshire
TOPOFF II - Seattle
World Youth Day - St. Louis
2002 Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City
2005 Hurricanes - Houston, New Orleans, Cam
This level of participation requires a greater level of commitment and on-going training that is held in the Denver area on a monthly basis. Volunteers at this level can also participate as Community Support Volunteers, Deployable Volunteers and/or members of the Medical Reserve Corps.
Current Requirements Include:
- Lift and carry up to 50 pounds repeatedly
- Stand for two hour periods
- Walk on uneven terrain
- Bend and stoop
- Sleep on a cot or floor
- Work and live with little or no privacy
- Tolerate extreme heat, humidity, and cold
- Tolerate smoke or poor air quality
- Tolerate exporsure to mass casulaties and or death
- Work 12 hour shifts, night, and/or weekends
- Recieve a yearly physical (Provided)
- Attend 50% of posted training
General FAQ’s
Why training volunteer physicians is important
Experience has shown that, in an emergency, many of our nation’s health and medical providers are eager and willing to volunteer their professional health services. To meet the extraordinary demands of a large scale emergency, hospitals and other providers of healthcare will depend upon the services that health volunteers can provide. However, in a time of emergency, utilizing the capabilities of the nation’s health volunteers presents a major challenge to hospital, public health, and emergency authorities.
Immediately after the attacks on September 11, 2001, tens of thousands of people spontaneously showed up at ground zero in New York City to volunteer their assistance. A large number of these volunteers arrived to provide medical assistance to the victims of the attacks. In most cases, authorities were unable to distinguish those -that were qualified from those that were not qualified, though well intentioned. Additionally, because the response was unsolicited and there was no mechanism of coordination, those that presented themselves reduced the effectiveness of the overall response effort rather than helping.
"We had volunteers just show up -- unsolicited, unneeded, not requested. To accommodate them we had to set up another city. We had to feed them and take care of sanitation and other things. But we just couldn't use them." - Ed Jacoby, Jr., former Director of New York's Emergency Management Office.
What is the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System?
The Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System (CPHMVS) is a comprehensive volunteer database created as a mechanism to organize and provide training to medical professionals and support personnel so they may respond safely and effectively to any disaster.
How is the volunteer system related to the Disaster Medical
Assistance Team of Colorado, or DMAT?
With funding from the Department of Public Health and Environment,
Colorado will be able to contact and activate all public health and medical
volunteers electronically. The new system adds the additional resources to the
existing resources of the DMAT. The DMAT is managing the project for the
state health department with the grant funding.
How is the volunteer system related to the Medical Reserve Corps?
The Medical Reserve Corps volunteers continue to work in their communities
for both planned and emergency events. Medical Reserve Corps volunteers are encouraged to register in the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer
System, which serves as a tool to call upon needed volunteers anywhere in the state. The volunteer system allows communities throughout Colorado to
support each other with these essential resources.
Which trainings are recommended for volunteers?
There are three segments of several trainings each that are recommended. The Colorado DMAT is planning to offer many of the trainings in each of the nine regions throughout Colorado. More details are available at
www.coloradodmat.com.
Resources:
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/bt/cphmvs.html
http://www.coloradodmat.com/
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