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Volunteer Management
Topic Collection
March 21, 2024

Topic Collection: Volunteer Management

During large-scale disasters or extended health emergencies, healthcare facilities may need to augment their teams (including with volunteers) to continue to provide patient care or support patient care services. Protocols defining when and how volunteers will be used; preferred order of preference (e.g., staff from affiliated facilities, followed by coalition facilities, then federal / Emergency Management Assistance Compact clinical personnel, then Medical Reserve Corps, then spontaneous volunteer professionals); how appropriate volunteers will be identified and requested; how they will be credentialed and assigned; and how their work will be supervised and evaluated must be developed as part of an organization’s emergency response plan. The resources in this Topic Collection include guidance and strategies, targeted legal information, and planning templates to assist healthcare facilities with successfully incorporating volunteers into their disaster management plans. In addition, some key resources for professionals responsible for the day-to-day management of a public health/healthcare volunteer program including Medical Reserve Corps are listed that can fulfill a variety of missions depending on the need and community MRC mission capabilities.

Please refer to the Healthcare-Related Disaster Legal/ Regulatory/ Federal Policy Topic Collection for additional legal resources.

Each resource in this Topic Collection is placed into one or more of the following categories (click on the category name to be taken directly to that set of resources). Resources marked with an asterisk (*) appear in more than one category.

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Must Reads

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. (n.d.). Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). (Accessed 3/15/2024.) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This webpage describes the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) program, which provides standards and guidelines to assist states with setting up standardized volunteer databases to support public health and medical response during disasters. ESAR-VHP registries allow volunteers' identities, licenses, credentials, accreditations, and hospital privileges to be verified in advance of an emergency, facilitating more rapid deployment.
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Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. (n.d.). MRC Unit Leader Resources and Login. (Accessed 3/14/2024.) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The resources on this webpage can help Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) members lead an MRC unit, recruit volunteers, report activities, and connect with other unit leaders.
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Arizona Department of Health Services. (2022). Medical Surge Personnel and Public Health Volunteer Coordination Plan.
This plan describes Arizona’s approach to coordinating the credentialing, verification, recruitment, activation, notification, deployment, movement, and demobilization of volunteers using its Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) program. The plan structure and issues considered may be helpful to health care facilities in the development of plans to manage disaster volunteers.
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Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. (n.d.). Emergency Volunteer Toolkit. (Accessed 3/14/2024.)
This toolkit consists of a series of fact sheets and executive overviews focused on key concepts regarding emergency response volunteers, including types of volunteers; federal and state laws governing or affecting volunteers; and volunteer registration, licensing, credentialing, and privileging.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities: Capability 15: Volunteer Management.
This document defines four key functions for Volunteer Management: Recruit, coordinate, and train volunteers; Notify, organize, assemble, and deploy volunteers; Conduct or support volunteer safety and health monitoring and surveillance; Demobilize volunteers. Although written for public health departments, some of the tasks noted are also applicable to the development of healthcare facility volunteer plans.
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Federal Emergency Management Agency. (n.d.). Citizens Corps Volunteer Liability Guide: An Overview of Legal Issues and Approaches to Address Liability for Emergency Volunteers. (Accessed 3/14/2024.)
The aim of this guide is to provide an overview of volunteers and liability, including: a summary of the law and liability, sources of liability protection (e.g., volunteer acts, and Good Samaritan laws), and an explanation of risk management as it relates to liability. Also included are checklists that can be tailored by volunteer organizations.
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Greater New York Hospital Association. (2004). Model Disaster Privileges Policy.
This document is a template policy for a hospital to use to accept volunteers when its emergency plan is activated, and process their credentials when they do not have staff privileges at that hospital.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2019). National MRC Volunteer Training Plan.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Training Plan is a suggested guide for training MRC Volunteers at the local level. It presents a “menu” of options to guide MRC Unit leaders and volunteers with trainings that align with the Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health.
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Sher, A., Kent, M., Lyver, M., et al. (2019). Leveraging Volunteers During Emergent Events. Journal of Emergency Medical Services.
The authors of this short article discuss how spontaneous volunteers can be planned for and employed in the immediate aftermath of an incident. Volunteer typology and on-scene assessment/ triage models are also discussed.
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Tishman, S. (2022). 6 Ways To Keep Your Volunteers Engaged. VolunteerMatch.
This article discusses ways to keep volunteers engaged in a program, namely: make them feel needed and appreciated; ask them to help in specific, actionable ways; inspire volunteers with the cause, not the organization; stay connected, and make sure communication channels go both ways; develop a community of volunteers; and show volunteers how they made a difference.
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Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council and Western Massachusetts Medical Reserve Corps. (2016). Spontaneous Volunteer Management System Plan Template.
This plan template can be tailored by emergency planners, incident commanders, and disaster volunteer groups, to help plan for and manage spontaneous volunteers. It may also be used as a general reference to guide development of a facility-specific volunteer plan.
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Education and Training

Downey, L., Buys, D., Fountain, B., et al. (2018). Assisting after Disaster: A Volunteer Management and Donations Management Training. (Abstract only.) Journal of Extension. 56(3).
The authors from the Mississippi State University Extension created this course to supplement existing incident management training. They have pilot tested the course in Mississippi and report promising results.
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Medical Reserve Corps. (2022). MRC Network Well Check Webinars.
The national Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) program hosts monthly webinars on a variety of topics of interest to MRC Coordinators and others interested in volunteer management. The archived webinars cover a variety of topics including involving nursing students, recruiting and retention of volunteers, managing spontaneous volunteers, and training issues.
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Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). (2020). About Volunteering.
Medical Reserve Corps volunteers work as units within their communities to strengthen public health, reduce vulnerability, build resilience, and improve preparedness, response and recovery capabilities. MRC units across the country are finding different ways to help their communities during COVID-19 response, including staffing call centers, drive through clinics, and more. Reach out to an MRC unit in your area to find out how you can help. Many units are currently responding, and unit leaders may or may not be able to respond to your inquiry immediately.
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Mountain West Preparedness and Emergency Learning Center. (n.d.). Community Recovery: Volunteer Management During Disasters. (Accessed 4/8/2024.)
This hour-long interactive training takes users through public health scenarios to learn how to: manage volunteer intake (affiliated and spontaneous); deploy volunteers based on their training and skill sets; and coordinate community public health, medical and mental/behavioral health system recovery operations.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (n.d.). Deployment & Post-Deployment. (Free registration required. Accessed 10/21/2019.)
This course teaches volunteers what to expect both during and after deployment and in various stages.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (n.d.). MRC Pre-Deployment. (Free registration required. Accessed 10/21/2019.)
This course covers a variety of activities that an MRC volunteer can do to prepare for an activation or deployment. Course activities include: Training Requirements and Resources, Preparedness Activities, Administrative Activities, and Health and Safety.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2016). Mission Ready Packages: Overview for the MRC.
These slides are from a webinar that provided an overview of Mission Ready Packages (MRPs) and examples of potential MRPs that MRC units could develop based on their local community response needs and the volunteer capabilities within their unit.
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* National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2019). National MRC Volunteer Training Plan.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Training Plan is a suggested guide for training MRC Volunteers at the local level. It presents a “menu” of options to guide MRC Unit leaders and volunteers with trainings that align with the Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health.
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University of Washington, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. (2014). Legal Aspects of Public Health Emergency Preparedness.
This 1.5-hour course provides an overview of public health law in emergency preparedness. Legal questions relating to the use of medical or public health volunteers during emergencies are addressed.
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Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council. (n.d.). Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteers Training Series. (Accessed 9/19/2019.)
This webpage includes links to resources from Massachusetts that support effective planning for safe operation of a volunteer management system based on the Incident Command System (ICS). In addition to a plan document, standard operating guide checklist, field guide, floor plan, and supply list, there is a four-part online training in how to plan for and manage a Volunteer Reception Center for spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers (SUVs).
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Incorporating Volunteers into Health Care Disaster Response

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. (n.d.). Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). (Accessed 3/15/2024.) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This webpage describes the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) program, which provides standards and guidelines to assist states with setting up standardized volunteer databases to support public health and medical response during disasters. ESAR-VHP registries allow volunteers' identities, licenses, credentials, accreditations, and hospital privileges to be verified in advance of an emergency, facilitating more rapid deployment.
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ASPR TRACIE. (2022). Mass Violence/Active Shooter Incidents: Community Response and Media Management.
This ASPR TRACIE tip sheet (which is part of a series) can help healthcare system planners incorporate issues related to security, volunteers, media affairs, and donations into their no-notice incident plans.
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Auf der Heide, E. (2003). Convergence Behavior in Disasters. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 41(4): 463-466.
The author examines research on spontaneous volunteerism and how to manage it.
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Australasian College of Emergency Medicine. (2013). Policy on Emergency Department Management of Medical and Nursing Volunteers During Disasters.
This document contains considerations for the use of volunteers during disasters, and may be used as a reference for developing a healthcare facility volunteer plan.
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  • Bridget Kanawati This URL has been updated and should be accessible now. Thank you.
    6/28/2019 9:24:22 AM
  • Jenny Raspberry This link no longer works.
    6/25/2019 10:42:24 AM
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities: Capability 15: Volunteer Management.
This document defines four key functions for Volunteer Management: Recruit, coordinate, and train volunteers; Notify, organize, assemble, and deploy volunteers; Conduct or support volunteer safety and health monitoring and surveillance; Demobilize volunteers. Although written for public health departments, some of the tasks noted are also applicable to the development of healthcare facility volunteer plans.
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* D.C. Emergency Healthcare Coalition. (2014). Volunteer Management and Use in CHCs and SNFs: A Template for Response Procedures.
This template includes a range of concepts and considerations related to volunteer management and use. The authors note that in the rare event that federal responders may be deployed to assist, the procedures described in this document can be tailored to help integrate them into a healthcare organization’s response operations.
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McBurney, R. (2011). Plan for Incorporating Local Volunteer Radiation Professionals into Existing Health Volunteer Programs to Assist in Population Monitoring: Final Report. Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc.
The author synthesized expert opinion on the feasibility of developing self-sustaining volunteer emergency response programs to perform tasks associated with radiation emergencies (e.g., population monitoring) and help in other ways at hospitals, community reception areas, and other areas.
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MedSurplus Alliance. (2018). Emergency Donations.
This page provides general guidelines that can be used by healthcare facilities regarding donations in emergency situations to include considerations for consumables, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals.
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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Preparing for the Future of Disaster Health Volunteerism: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. National Academies Press.
This document summarizes the presentations and discussions from a workshop focused on identifying “the key resources, tools, and opportunities necessary to support the development of a robust, scalable, and regularly engaged disaster health volunteer workforce” to meet the anticipated needs of the future.
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. (2008). Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Disaster: The Synergy of Structure and Good Intentions. Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This document was developed in support of a national strategy for managing spontaneous volunteers during disasters. It includes principles of, and concept of operations for, managing spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers.
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. (2011). Points of Consensus: Volunteer Management.
This document defines best practices in the area of volunteer rights and responsibilities. These rights include: right to supervision, direction, and training; right to safe work environment; and right to clear expectations for volunteers.
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  • Bridget Kanawati Thank you for letting us know and we have updated the link.
    8/7/2023 10:35:25 AM
  • Thomas Barnett This link takes you to the Arkansas VOAD page, but I cannot seem to find the listed resource anywhere on that page.
    8/4/2023 4:31:07 PM
Pitney, N. (2013). Safeguarding Volunteers With Effective Risk Management. Nonprofit Quarterly.
This article provides information on risk reduction strategies for organizations that use volunteers.
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Sher, A., Kent, M., Lyver, M., et al. (2019). Leveraging Volunteers During Emergent Events. Journal of Emergency Medical Services.
The authors of this short article discuss how spontaneous volunteers can be planned for and employed in the immediate aftermath of an incident. Volunteer typology and on-scene assessment/ triage models are also discussed.
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* Shields, S., Riccardi, C., and Stone, T. (2014). Are You Ready to Utilize Disaster Healthcare Volunteers? California Hospital Association.
This resource includes a series of questions a hospital may use to determine if and how it will use volunteer health professionals for disaster response as part of a tabletop exercise. It also includes “best practices” in response to each question that may be helpful to planners.
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  • Bridget Kanawati This link has been updated. Thank you.
    8/7/2023 10:38:16 AM
  • Thomas Barnett 404 file not found.
    8/4/2023 4:33:55 PM
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. (2017). Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT).
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are an asset of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). DMATs are composed of professional and para-professional medical personnel, supported by pharmacists, logistical, and administrative staff that provide medical care during a disaster or other special events. The integration and use of federal personnel should be included in facility and coalition plans for staff surge capacity. Access this link for more information: https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/responders/ndms/ndms-teams/Pages/dmat.aspx
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Veterans Health Administration. (2014). Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System (DEMPS) Brochure.
This document describes the Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System (DEMPS) organized and managed by the Veterans Health Administration. DEMPS volunteers may be deployed for an internal VHA mission, or to an external location to support disaster response following a presidential disaster declaration.
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American College of Surgeons. (2007). Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act.
This webpage provides information on which states have adopted the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act (UEVHPA), and which states have introduced legislation to do so. Links to the UEVHPA, a legislative information kit, and other resources are also available.
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Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. (n.d.). Emergency Volunteer Toolkit. (Accessed 3/14/2024.)
This toolkit consists of a series of fact sheets and executive overviews focused on key concepts regarding emergency response volunteers, including types of volunteers; federal and state laws governing or affecting volunteers; and volunteer registration, licensing, credentialing, and privileging.
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Baker-White, A. (2013). No One Volunteers to Get Sued: Reviewing Emergency Volunteer Liability and Protections. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Network for Public Health Law.
This one-page quick reference guide summarizes concepts and issues pertinent to emergency volunteers. It also includes an overview of state and federal laws that provide liability coverage and/or immunity to volunteers, and notes when such protections would apply.
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Chu, V. (2011). Emergency Response: Civil Liability of Volunteer Health Professionals.
This report provides an overview of the federal and state liability protections available to volunteer health professionals.
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Federal Emergency Management Agency. (n.d.). Citizens Corps Volunteer Liability Guide: An Overview of Legal Issues and Approaches to Address Liability for Emergency Volunteers. (Accessed 3/14/2024.)
The aim of this guide is to provide an overview of volunteers and liability, including: a summary of the law and liability, sources of liability protection (e.g., volunteer acts, and Good Samaritan laws), and an explanation of risk management as it relates to liability. Also included are checklists that can be tailored by volunteer organizations.
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Lopez, W., Kershner, S., and Penn, M. (2013). EMAC Volunteers: Liability and Workers' Compensation.
The authors discuss the application of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) for volunteer deployment; gaps in the tort liability and workers’ compensation coverage it offers; and how the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act and other provisions address the limitations of protections under EMAC.
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National Emergency Management Association. (n.d.). Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). (Accessed 8/3/2020.)
This webpage provides information on the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a congressionally-mandated interstate mutual aid agreement that has been adopted by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Under EMAC, state assets (supplies, equipment, and/or volunteers) may be deployed to a requesting state. Reimbursement, liability, compensation, and licensure issues are also addressed. The website has links to training and education resources, as well as a document library, and information on deployable resources. The “Learn about EMAC” menu provides helpful documents for those not familiar with the agreement and process.
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U.S. Congress. (1997). Volunteer Protection Act. U.S. Government Publishing Office.
This is the text of the Volunteer Protection Act, which provides volunteers of nonprofit organizations or governmental entities some liability protections for economic damages resulting from activities relating to the work of the organizations. It does not cover gross negligence, willful misconduct, recklessness, or acts committed by the volunteer while intoxicated or operating a motor vehicle. Volunteers must be licensed or certified, as required to fulfill their assigned duties. Civil actions against volunteers by the organization they work for are not precluded. It does not cover organizational entities of any type, or persons volunteering at private businesses. A declared emergency is not necessary for volunteers to receive protections under this Act. States may opt out of the Volunteer Protection Act.
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Lessons Learned

Aitken, P., Leggat, P., Harley, H., et al. (2012). Human Resources Issues and Australian Disaster Medical Assistance Teams: Results of a National Survey of Team Members. Emerging Health Threats Journal. 5:18147.
The authors surveyed members of Australian Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and identified human resource issues (such as ideal shift length and role clarification) related to their deployment that should be considered in the development of disaster volunteer plans.
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Burns, N., Vutrano, E., Willman, K., and Johnson, M. (2023). Recognizing the Impact of Medical Reserve Corps Volunteers on the COVID-19 Pandemic Response. Health Security. 21(S1).
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units were created after the 9/11 terrorist attack. This report describes how MRC units supported the local medical response to the COVID-19 pandemic by assisting with testing, vaccination and treatment, contact tracing, staffing call centers, and less traditional actions (e.g., delivering meals to those in isolation, and forming strike teams to serve a variety of clients including farm and factory workers, long-term care facilities, homebound individuals, and schools).
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Diriba, K., Deffer, K., Randall, J., et al. (2017). The Medical Reserve Corps: 15 Years of Volunteers Actively Engaging to Meet Community Needs.
This report builds upon two previous Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Network Profile reports, highlighting the impact the MRC program has had on the nation’s health and safety
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Fahim, C., O'Sullivan, T., and Lane, D. (2014). Supports for Health and Social Service Providers from Canada Responding to the Disaster in Haiti.
The authors surveyed Canadian health professionals who volunteered in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to assess the effectiveness of supports provided to them. They evaluated training strategies; safety and security supports; psychological and emotional supports; physical supports; team dynamics and effective team leaders; communication between the field and headquarters; and communication with the media. They concluded that improvements in training and provision of supports are needed to enhance volunteer effectiveness.
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Murrin, S., Grant, D., Stewart, J., et al. (2015). Medical Reserve Corps Volunteers in New York and New Jersey During Superstorm Sandy.
This report details the successes and challenges associated with the deployment of Medical Reserve Corps volunteers during the response to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The lessons learned related to communications are broadly applicable to the use of volunteers to support disaster response.
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Terndrup, T., Leaming, J., Adams, R., and Adoff, S. (2012). Hospital-Based Coalition to Improve Regional Surge Capacity. The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 13(5):445-52.
The authors examined the effect of a newly-developed regional healthcare coalition (in south Central Pennsylvania) on six surge capacity-related objectives. In a two-year period, the healthcare coalition improved areas under all objectives. The authors also found that designating and training a coordinator for the state healthcare volunteer database contributed to a significant increase in volunteer registrations from the participating hospitals.
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Yafe, E., Walker, B., Amram, O., et al. (2019). Volunteer First Responders for Optimizing Management of Mass Casualty Incidents. (Abstract only.) Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 13(2): 287–294.
The Volunteer First Responder (VFR) program was developed in Israel to help manage mass casualty incident triage and evacuation. The authors share lessons learned from three incidents and found that VFRs were consistently the first to arrive on the scene and significantly helped with the health response in all settings.
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* Zagelbaum, N., Heslin, K., Stein, J., et al. (2014). Factors Influencing Readiness to Deploy in Disaster Response: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey of the Department of Veterans Affairs Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System. BMC Emergency Medicine. 14(16).
The authors discuss survey findings that suggest a gender difference in readiness to deploy, as well as a correlation between positive attitudes about training and deployment. The research could be used to inform training for volunteers, as well as policies to support female disaster volunteers.
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Plans, Tools, and Templates

Arizona Department of Health Services. (2022). Medical Surge Personnel and Public Health Volunteer Coordination Plan.
This plan describes Arizona’s approach to coordinating the credentialing, verification, recruitment, activation, notification, deployment, movement, and demobilization of volunteers using its Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) program. The plan structure and issues considered may be helpful to health care facilities in the development of plans to manage disaster volunteers.
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Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative, Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. (2010). Monterey County Volunteer Management Plan.
This plan is an annex to the Monterey Operational Area Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), and establishes operational protocols for coordinating spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers, as well as affiliated volunteers for the Monterey County Operational Area.
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* California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2014). Disaster Healthcare Volunteers: Volunteer Handbook.
This detailed handbook for healthcare volunteers may be referenced by volunteer managers in the development of a similar handbook for their respective programs.
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* California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2016). Disaster Healthcare Volunteers: Deployment Operations Manual.
The purpose of this document is to “provide a common operational framework, including guidelines and checklists, to guide the deployment of disaster healthcare volunteers” across operational areas in California during an emergency requiring medical resources. The deployment concepts in the manual may be helpful to volunteer managers in other states responsible for developing their own respective protocols for deployment of disaster healthcare volunteers.
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* D.C. Emergency Healthcare Coalition. (2014). Volunteer Management and Use in CHCs and SNFs: A Template for Response Procedures.
This template includes a range of concepts and considerations related to volunteer management and use. The authors note that in the rare event that federal responders may be deployed to assist, the procedures described in this document can be tailored to help integrate them into a healthcare organization’s response operations.
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Greater New York Hospital Association. (2004). Model Disaster Privileges Policy.
This document is a template policy for a hospital to use to accept volunteers when its emergency plan is activated, and process their credentials when they do not have staff privileges at that hospital.
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Iroquois Healthcare Association. (2015). Emergency Volunteer Management: Planning Considerations & Resources for Hospitals.
This document identifies key planning and operational considerations for managing emergency volunteers in hospitals. It includes a planning checklist, templates, guidance, and resources for integrating emergency volunteers during a medical surge event.
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Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency. (2014). Los Angeles County Disaster Healthcare Volunteers Clinic Tabletop Exercise Guidebook.
This document provides a tabletop exercise template to assist clinics with developing a plan to use volunteers during disasters. The guidance questions included may be referenced on their own for plan development.
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Michigan Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division, Michigan Department of State Police. (2012). Disaster Logistics and Donations Management Plan Template.
This template for a jurisdictional disaster logistics and donations management plan provides a framework for a plan that includes development of a donations management system, roles and responsibilities, activation of donations management functions, health and safety, communications, public information, record keeping, etc. It also includes numerous attachments such as sample public information materials, job action sheets, checklists, records keeping forms, etc. Though developed specifically for cities/counties, information may be adapted for healthcare facilities.
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* National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2021). 2021 Deployment Readiness Guide.
This guide provides Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) leaders the tools to bolster their team capabilities. Tools are included under three categories: Volunteer Management, Develop Volunteer Capabilities, and Develop Unit Capabilities.
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. (2019). Multi-agency Definitions of Mass Care Terms.
This document lists commonly used terms and categorizes and defines them. There is a source for the definition listed at the end of every entry.
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North Carolina Medicaid. (2017). Medicaid Temporary Enrollment Application.
In the event of a disaster, healthcare providers licensed in in the State of North Carolina do not need a license to volunteer, but they do have to complete this form to be considered a “temporary NC Medicaid provider.” Other states may choose to tailor this approach and/or form to their needs.
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Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Program. (2014). Volunteer and Donations Management Toolkit.
This toolkit provides considerations for volunteer and donations management. Appendix 4 includes a donations management local template. Though this document is geared towards county/city jurisdictions, it may be useful for healthcare facilities.
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* Shields, S., Riccardi, C., and Stone, T. (2014). Are You Ready to Utilize Disaster Healthcare Volunteers? California Hospital Association.
This resource includes a series of questions a hospital may use to determine if and how it will use volunteer health professionals for disaster response as part of a tabletop exercise. It also includes “best practices” in response to each question that may be helpful to planners.
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  • Bridget Kanawati This link has been updated. Thank you.
    8/7/2023 10:38:16 AM
  • Thomas Barnett 404 file not found.
    8/4/2023 4:33:55 PM
Stanford Healthcare. (2012). Disaster Privileges for Volunteer Licensed Independent Practitioners (LIP) and Advanced Practice Providers (APP).
This policy can be used as an example for hospitals interested in granting temporary privileges to volunteer medical providers to help care for patients in a surge situation.
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University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). Volunteer Reception Center Plan. (Accessed 8/7/2019.)
This plan template may be used by public health agencies or healthcare facilities to develop a Volunteer Reception Center Plan. The template includes Job Action Sheets and forms that may be used to process and credential spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers (SUVs).
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Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council and Western Massachusetts Medical Reserve Corps. (2016). Spontaneous Volunteer Management System Plan Template.
This plan template can be tailored by emergency planners, incident commanders, and disaster volunteer groups, to help plan for and manage spontaneous volunteers. It may also be used as a general reference to guide development of a facility-specific volunteer plan.
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* Zagelbaum, N., Heslin, K., Stein, J., et al. (2014). Factors Influencing Readiness to Deploy in Disaster Response: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey of the Department of Veterans Affairs Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System. BMC Emergency Medicine. 14(16).
The authors discuss survey findings that suggest a gender difference in readiness to deploy, as well as a correlation between positive attitudes about training and deployment. The research could be used to inform training for volunteers, as well as policies to support female disaster volunteers.
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Volunteer Program Management

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. (n.d.). MRC Unit Leader Resources and Login. (Accessed 3/14/2024.) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The resources on this webpage can help Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) members lead an MRC unit, recruit volunteers, report activities, and connect with other unit leaders.
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Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. (2017). Communities Responding to Disasters: Planning for Spontaneous Volunteers.
While based on Australian disaster management principles, the information in this manual can be used by others to help develop and operationalize policies that support spontaneous volunteers during emergencies. Links to case studies from around the world are provided in an appendix.
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* California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2014). Disaster Healthcare Volunteers: Volunteer Handbook.
This detailed handbook for healthcare volunteers may be referenced by volunteer managers in the development of a similar handbook for their respective programs.
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* California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2016). Disaster Healthcare Volunteers: Deployment Operations Manual.
The purpose of this document is to “provide a common operational framework, including guidelines and checklists, to guide the deployment of disaster healthcare volunteers” across operational areas in California during an emergency requiring medical resources. The deployment concepts in the manual may be helpful to volunteer managers in other states responsible for developing their own respective protocols for deployment of disaster healthcare volunteers.
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Denny, M. (2019). ISOTURE: A Model for Effective Volunteer Management. Mississippi State University Extension.
This resource describes the ISOTURE model, “a set of steps for organizations to help strengthen their volunteer programs and lead volunteers more effectively.” These steps are: Identification; Selection; Orientation; Training; Utilization; Recognition; and Evaluation and are a helpful framework for any organization developing a volunteer program.
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Department of Education, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center. (n.d.). Managing Donations and Volunteers as Part of Education Agency Emergency Management. (Accessed 2/21/2024.)
Though specific to managing donations and volunteers for schools, this fact sheet provides useful concepts that may be applicable to healthcare organizations. For example, operational aspects when considering partnerships with key organizations/ agencies; goals and objectives for before, during, and after a disaster.
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DeVita, S. (2017). Volunteer Management 101: 5 Keys to Total Volunteer Success. Top Nonprofits.
This quick reference describes general principles for successfully managing a volunteer program: having comprehensive volunteer management tools; ensuring that recruitment is “purposeful;” maintaining long-term volunteer engagement and consistent communication; and utilizing varied methods for volunteer acknowledgement.
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FEMA, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. (2023). Volunteer and Donate.
This website includes tips for how to donate or volunteer successfully and provides information on how to volunteer and donate responsibly.
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Harvard School of Public Health, Emergency Preparedness and Response Exercise Program. (2014). Essential Functions and Considerations for Hospital Recovery Version 2.
Based on an extensive literature review (including federal guidelines), review of hospital plans, interviews with staff from hospitals affected by critical incidents, and information from a 2013 workshop on recovery-based lessons learned, the authors developed this document to help hospitals prepare to manage recovery from all types of events.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (n.d.). Developing Mission Ready MRC Units: A Resource Guide for Medical Reserve Corps Unit Leaders. (Accessed 8/7/2019.)
This document serves as a tool for MRC unit leaders to explore emergency response missions that they are able to support, understand how to align their capabilities with emergency response plans, develop Mission Ready Packages (MRPs), and use the MRP template to train and prepare volunteers for specific emergency response roles.
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National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2019). MRC Core Competencies.
This fact sheet provides information on the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Core Competencies, organized into 4 learning paths. These core competencies define the baseline level of knowledge and skills for all MRC volunteers. A detailed training plan based on these core competencies and learning paths may be found on the NACCHO MRC webpage, as well.
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* National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2019). National MRC Volunteer Training Plan.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Training Plan is a suggested guide for training MRC Volunteers at the local level. It presents a “menu” of options to guide MRC Unit leaders and volunteers with trainings that align with the Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health.
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* National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2021). 2021 Deployment Readiness Guide.
This guide provides Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) leaders the tools to bolster their team capabilities. Tools are included under three categories: Volunteer Management, Develop Volunteer Capabilities, and Develop Unit Capabilities.
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. (n.d.). VOAD Members. (Accessed 5/11/2020.)
This document lists the members of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), along with a brief description of what each agency does. It may be used for partnership building among volunteer groups.
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Schmitz, S., Chu, K., Radcliff, T., and Smith, R. (2018). Veterans Health Administration’s Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System (DEMPS) Training Evaluation: Potential Implications for Disaster Health Care Volunteers. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 12(6):1-8.
The authors examined the effects of multi-modality training on DEMPS volunteers’ perceptions of the program. They found that “volunteers with multi-modal training who completed all 3 modes were significantly more likely to have positive attitudes about training, plan to continue as volunteers, and would recommend DEMPS to others.” This may have implications for other hospital systems developing similar programs.
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Tishman, S. (2022). 6 Ways To Keep Your Volunteers Engaged. VolunteerMatch.
This article discusses ways to keep volunteers engaged in a program, namely: make them feel needed and appreciated; ask them to help in specific, actionable ways; inspire volunteers with the cause, not the organization; stay connected, and make sure communication channels go both ways; develop a community of volunteers; and show volunteers how they made a difference.
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Agencies and Organizations

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Medical Reserve Corps. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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American Red Cross. Training and Certification.
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Association of Healthcare Preparedness and Planning Professionals (AHEPP).
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Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP).
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Federal Emergency Management Agency. Community Emergency Response Teams.
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Health Resources and Services Administration. Health Center Volunteer Health Professionals (VHP).
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National Center for Disaster Medicine & Public Health (NCDMPH).
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National Disaster Medical System (NDMS).
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National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters.
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Provider Bridge.
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This Topic Collection was refreshed and comprehensively reviewed in October 2019 by the following subject matter experts (listed alphabetically): Jim Bolen, MS, Planning Section Chief, Butler County / State of Ohio AHIMT; Michael Gurnick, Chair, Ashland Branch Massachusetts Medical Reserve Corps Region 4A and NACCHO Incident Management Workgroup; John Hick, MD, HHS ASPR and Hennepin County Medical Center; Kamya Raja, MSPH, Program Analyst, Medical Reserve Corps, National Association of County & City Health Officials; Mary Russell, EdD, MSN, Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition, Palm Beach County Florida; L. Corey Sloan, M.A., M.S., EMT-P, Doctor of Education Candidate, Deputy Chief of EMS and Rescue, NTA EMS Rescue, Deputy Emergency Manager, Harrison County (MO) EMA; and Monica D. Tipton, M.Ed., Medical Reserve Corps Volunteer Coordinator, Tarrant County Public Health– Public Health Emergency Preparedness.

 

It was comprehensively reviewed in July and August 2017 by: Tracy L. Buchman, DHA, MEP, CHPA, CHSP, Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational & Environmental Safety & Health, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Kathy Deffer, Senior Program Analyst, Medical Reserve Corps Program, National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO); Michael Gurnick, Chair, Ashland Branch, Massachusetts MRC Region 4A/B; John Hick, MD, HHS ASPR and Hennepin County Medical Center; John Hick, MD, HHS ASPR, and Hennepin County Medical Center; Judy L. Homer, RN, COHN-S, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Representative, Hospital Preparedness Program, New York State Department of Health, Office of Health Emergency Preparedness; Jennifer Kramer, PE, BSE, MRC Volunteer Coordinator/EP Specialist, Livingston County Health Department, Livingston County, Michigan; September McAdoo, MPA, MA, IPEM, Clinton County Health Department, Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator, South Central Illinois Medical Reserve Corps Director, Clinton County A.R.E.S./R.A.C.E.S. (KC9NFA); Dave Nichols, CEM, Public Health, Seattle & King County Washington; and Monica D. Tipton, M.Ed., Tarrant County Public Health, Texas.

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