Why Wait?

Imagine a large-scale disaster or disease outbreak strikes San Diego. You are able to confirm the safety of your loved ones by following your pre-established home and worksite emergency communication plan. Your practice/facility is not directly impacted by the event, and you see on the news that local health resources are becoming quickly overwhelmed. You want to help and decide to go the disaster site and “just help out.” With your recently created disaster backpack in hand, you hit the road.

Now imagine hundreds of well-intentioned physicians and medical workers spontaneously arriving at disaster sites and service locations to volunteer. Emergency managers are busy responding to the incident and have no way to verify the identity or credentials of these healthcare providers. Many of the volunteers arriving at the scene are not trained in the mandatory “incident command system,” nor do they have an understanding of the local emergency medical response system. Additionally, these unregistered spontaneous volunteers may not know that they are not covered by workers’ compensation protections and limited immunity from liability that is available to registered “disaster service workers.”

As stated in the County of San Diego policy, in order to utilize available healthcare professional resources in circumstances of disaster(s), in which the emergency management plan has been activated, all medical professionals must be credentialed through the California Disaster Service Worker (DSW) Volunteer Program.

In the above scenario, for the safety of all involved, the participation of spontaneous volunteers would have to be delayed until these helpers could be appropriately screened and registered. This means that individuals trying to respond to the emergency must be allocated to handle the DSW registration process. Even with emergency procedures in place, this takes time. Everyone is left feeling frustrated during a time of community crisis. But, with a standardized DSW registration and pre-credentialing process in place, this sideline crisis could be averted.

The San Diego County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is just that process. The MRC is sponsored by County of San Diego, Public Health Services, Emergency Medical Services. Qualified healthcare professionals are recruited and “pre-credentialed” prior to any disaster or other event in which medical volunteers may be needed. Pre-credentialing volunteers prior to an event allows San Diego to be better prepared to respond quickly and efficiently during a time of disaster.

All San Diego MRC volunteers are registered with the DSW program. This state program is administered locally through the County Office of Emergency Services. Upon enrollment, volunteers are trained to work within local emergency medical and public health response systems. Under the DSW program, volunteers are eligible for workers’ compensation if they are injured performing disaster service work and are provided limited immunity from liability.

In an emergency, MRC volunteers are alerted by phone and email of a need for services and are requested to respond if they are available. Volunteers are instructed to meet personal and employment obligations first. Activation as a DSW through the MRC is completely voluntary and is unpaid. Volunteers receive a photo ID (badge) and orientation from the EMS office.

San Diego MRC volunteers are not intended to be “first-responders.” Instead, volunteers function as surge staffing to supplement existing resources after the initial response, typically about 24–72 hours out from the event. MRC volunteers can work shifts through the duration of the response and recovery phases as they are needed and available.

Since 2001, the San Diego MRC has partnered with the San Diego County Medical Society, the Council of Community Clinics, the Pharmacy Emergency Response Team, the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, the American Red Cross, and others to register over 800 volunteers. More volunteers are always needed. A large-scale disaster or disease outbreak would require the help of thousands of local health professionals.

To volunteer with the San Diego MRC, contact the volunteer coordinator at (619) 285-6429 or by email at mrcvolcoord@sdcounty.ca.gov. Take action now to make sure your expertise can make a difference when needed.