APPENDIX A - OPERATIONS DURING A SHORT-TERM DISASTER
Please Note: Any documents not available at this Website are located in the NEST file cabinet at the La Honda firehouse.
Spontaneous volunteers become available (and could be utilized) even during emergencies of short duration. Such emergencies could include a flash flood that involved a few hours of intensive effort or an earthquake that did relatively little damage through our community. In such circumstances, a scaled-down Volunteer Registration Center can be established both to assign volunteers and to meet responsibilities for insurance coverage.
A. Establishing a Volunteer Registration Center
1) At the front of the Fire House (or other location being used as N.E.S.T. Command/Communications) hang a sign directing volunteers to register.
2) Manually maintain a list of positions that become available on the Volunteer Request Record.
1) As volunteers arrive, ask them to complete the Short Volunteer Intake Form. Give them a Volunteer Safety Tips sheet and ask them to read it before they leave the Volunteer Registration Center.
2) As positions are filled, remove them from the Volunteer Request Record.
3) Explain to the volunteer where and to whom to report. Give the volunteer a Map of La Honda, and a Volunteer Time Sheet. Ask the volunteer to return the Volunteer Time Sheet to the Fire House at the end of the volunteer assignment. (The Volunteer Time Sheet is important for us to determine the extent to which our population was required and able to help itself. This information could be used to obtain additional emergency preparation and response resources for our area.)
C. Notify Volunteer Supervisor
1) As the volunteer leaves the Volunteer Registration Center, contact the volunteer supervisor or other person making the assistance request and inform him/her that a volunteer has been assigned. Give the supervisor the name of the volunteer and approximate arrival time.
2) Advise the supervisor of any exceptional abilities or physical limitations of the volunteer as outlined on the Volunteer Intake Form.
1) If additional volunteers become available in excess of the available positions, the Volunteer Manager should contact the volunteer supervisors or others requesting assistance and ascertain if relief workers could be utilized. (This is a good idea even if all volunteer positions are not filled. Certain positions may have a large number of qualified volunteers and other positions may find very few.)
1) After the last position is either filled or terminated, the responsibilities of the Volunteer Manager now turn to the volunteers who have been assigned . As the volunteers complete their assignments and return their Volunteer Time Sheets collect these forms and tally the total number of volunteer hours spent. This information as well as the Short Volunteer Intake Forms should be submitted to N.E.S.T. Command/Communications for further processing and/or archiving.
2) When the emergency has ebbed to the point that volunteers will no longer be required, the signs locating and identifying the Volunteer Registration Center should be removed and refiled in the Spontaneous Volunteer Kit.
3) The Volunteer Request Record should be submitted to N.E.S.T. Command/Communications for archiving.
4) Inform N.E.S.T. Command/Communications that the Volunteer Registration Center is being terminated.
F. N.E.S.T. Command/Communications
1) In addition to providing communications assistance to the Volunteer Registration Center, N.E.S.T. Command/Communications serves as supervisor for the Volunteer Manager and has ultimate responsibility for the operation of the Volunteer Registration Center. N.E.S.T. Command/Communications should remain aware of any difficulties that are encountered and actively assist in their resolution if possible.
2) Upon termination of the Volunteer Registration Center, N.E.S.T. Command/Communications should collect data relative to number of volunteer hours, the positions filled and any recommendations that are offered.
3) N.E.S.T. Command/Communications should present this data, in a suitable format to the La Honda Fire Brigade and either the San Mateo Operational Area Office of Emergency Services or to the Volunteer Center of San Mateo County.
4) Additionally, if possible, letters of appreciation should be sent to all volunteers. Other ways of demonstrating appreciation may be arranged as appropriate at a later date.
Return to NEST - Disaster Preparation
page
Website design by Three Kitty Komputing, La Honda,
CA 