Emergency volunteers are everyday citizens who are trained to help authorities and the public in the event of a major disaster or public crisis in which people need extra direction, help and support to keep themselves or their loved ones safe. While most of this help entails giving advice and information to people, there are specific procedures for different types of crises that emergency volunteers are trained to handle.
Medical Volunteers
Emergency volunteers who have a background in or knowledge of medicine will set up initial medical operations in the event of a crisis or emergency, ranging from nurses and physicians to morticians and chaplains. While authorities from the local, state or even federal government will be calling the shots as to where operations should be set up and how people who have been medically affected by the crisis are attended to, these volunteers will be on hand to serve wherever they are needed and where they are qualified to serve. Their duties include working in triage, monitoring patients and reporting to doctors and nurses about them, and helping administer mass immunizations, if that's what is needed.
Transportation
Those who can drive large trucks or pilot helicopters and have skills to provide other unique forms of transportation will also be part of the emergency volunteer corps. They will help move in equipment and supplies to the main area where the medical staffs and other authorities will be setting up their primary operations. Transportation through these volunteers is integral to the success of the operation and will be supervised by authorities from the state and federal government, depending on the crisis. Just about anyone can be a volunteer when it comes to transportation, as long as you have a car, proof of insurance and no criminal record. You'll be responsible for transporting everyone from victims to authorities helping with the crisis, to transporting supplies to and from the scene of the crisis. The bigger the vehicle you can provide, the better.
Debris Clearing and Removal
Be it a natural disaster or a manmade one, the emergency volunteers will play a real role in cleaning up whatever happened in a safe and efficient manner. After a hurricane, felled trees will be cut apart and the wood removed to be used elsewhere. Glass and debris will be piled together to be transported away and analyzed or disposed of properly so that they don't pose a threat to people or the surrounding environment. These emergency volunteers are skilled in construction materials and using large power tools and are involved in both the initial rescue process and the clean-up process. They help try to return the area to the way it was before the incident occurred and try to do so as quickly as possible.
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