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Developing: Action Steps Checklist

The checklist of possible action steps below follows the basic outline of this particular technical assistance topic. It is important to remember that these are only suggestions. They serve as a quick reference guide to stimulate your thoughts of the complexities you may face in your Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit. You may choose to follow a different approach. If so, the Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps welcomes your best practices.

Introduction

Recognize your volunteers as the MRC’s most critical resource. Keep them always in mind and heart as you plan for your MRC’s future.

Planning Your Approach

Identify a clear, compelling vision of your MRC’s role in the community.
- With the overall picture in mind, develop the basic structure of your program before you begin recruiting volunteers.

Optimizing the Volunteer’s Experience

Consider the volunteer’s entire experience—from first contact to retiring from service with the MRC.
- What can you do to make every step as positive as possible for that volunteer?
- At what points along the way will you need help?

Recruiting Volunteers

Develop your core message—a clear and concise description of the unit and its role in the community that you can use to build your public relations and recruiting tools.
Get the word out—and keep it out there—any way you can.
Be patient and persistent—a potential volunteer may need to hear your message multiple times before they will act on it.

Who Can Volunteer for the Medical Reserve Corps?

Consider the type of work your MRC will be performing. What types of volunteers will you need to accomplish it?
Consider the makeup of medical and public health professionals in your community. How can you maximize these resources?
Examine the diverse communities in your local area. Consider recruiting volunteers from these communities to strengthen your MRC’s connections and effectiveness.
When a prospective volunteer asks you, “Why should I volunteer?” have some prepared answers.

Advertising: Public Awareness and Public Relations

Remember, each public communication on behalf of your MRC is always an opportunity to attract future volunteers.
Find local media willing to give free air time or advertisement space. Build relationships with people at these media outlets.
Ask local businesses and organizations to sponsor your message.
Give talks everywhere you can: local conferences, professional meetings, organizational gatherings, etc.
Establish ties with local elected officials. Ask them to mention the MRC in their speeches and other public appearances.
Sell your message to recognized leaders of the volunteer groups you would like to target.
Diversify your message to reach different groups.
Brainstorm strategies for recruitment with everyone who might help. There are hundreds of good ideas out there. You will have some to offer others, too.

Screening Prospective Volunteers

Establish and maintain clear and honest communication with each volunteer, from start to finish.
Identify a procedure and standards for screening volunteers, and apply them consistently.

The Screening Process

Develop an application form that is easy to complete and that gathers all the information you need.
- Find out how other MRC units are screening volunteers.
- Seek information your response partners would want to have to utilize your volunteers.
- Develop your database and application together to streamline data collection.
Check the application with the prospective volunteer to verify that the information is clear and complete. It is easier to verify now than it will be later.
Explore your prospective volunteer’s interest. Do not assume, based on the person’s background, that you know which activities he or she wants to participate in with the MRC.
Determine what your prospective volunteer values and considers important. A volunteer’s sense of purpose is an important resource for the MRC.
Determine a prospect’s availability.
- Different people will have different amounts of time to give. Some may not be available year-round. Others may need to be utilized throughout the year to remain engaged with the MRC.
Determine if your volunteer has other obligations that might conflict with serving the MRC.

Screening Applicants

Consider—ahead of time—which criteria are necessary for a potential MRC volunteer and the criteria used to screen an applicant.
- Ask for help from others in determining these criteria.
Inform applicants if a current physical exam is part of the screening criteria. Inform them how often it will need to be updated.
Consider whether you will be conducting a background check for a history of criminal behavior or of professional malpractice. Obtain information you need from the applicant.
- Find local partners, such as police departments, who can help conduct such checks inexpensively and thoroughly.
Seek assistance from professionals in other volunteer organizations or in the human resources departments of local organizations if you have doubts about an applicant or about your assessment of that applicant.
Be prepared to turn away volunteers who will not be appropriate for the MRC.
Offer referrals to other volunteer opportunities in your community if a volunteer is not a proper fit for your MRC.
Maintain contact with a volunteer if he or she is not a proper fit at the time, but might be in the future.

Informing Applicants of Risks and Responsibilities

Inform your prospective volunteer of how much time and effort will be expected and his or her likely duties.
Inform applicants of any dangers associated with their MRC volunteer work, particularly as these relate to legal liability (if someone is harmed by the volunteer) and to the risks associated with disability for the volunteer.
Explain any legal or workers’ compensation protections that may or may not be available to cover individuals while volunteering for the MRC clearly and thoroughly.
Remember that screening and interviewing is a two-way process that is important as much to the volunteer as to the MRC. Ensure the prospect has all the information he or she may need to make an informed decision.

Verifying an Applicant’s Credentials and References

Work with your local response partners and state agencies to determine the best, most thorough way of verifying credentials—there may be a method available to you that will permit you to utilize volunteers more effectively.
Follow up with both personal and professional references for your prospective volunteer. Note where your impressions coincide with or diverge from the feedback you receive.
Collect copies of all necessary documentation (e.g., current licenses, certifications, degrees, etc.) that pertain to the applicant’s potential future work for the MRC.

Training Volunteers

Develop a complete list of qualifications required for each type of volunteer activity. Solicit input from response partners, professional organizations, and legal experts.
Give your volunteers the training they need to be effective. Help close the gap between existing capabilities and those required for MRC utilization.
- Create an appropriate orientation for new volunteers that communicates the basic information necessary to their participation.
- Recommend the MRC Core Competencies.
- Determine the particular activities each volunteer will be performing. Tailor that volunteer’s training plan based on these activities and on the volunteer’s existing skills.
- Standardize training for all volunteers to the extent possible, but do not let the appeal of standardization interfere with the necessities of specialized or customized training.
- Design your training curriculum based on local needs for utilization.
- Seek local training resources. Your response partners may have access to such resources and may be willing and able to include your MRC volunteers at little or no additional cost.
- Consider having more experienced and committed volunteers offer training to new volunteer recruits to increase volunteer retention.

Exercising With Response Partners

Determine how your MRC volunteers can participate in table-top exercises, full-scale exercises, and other practice experiences with local response partners.
Encourage MRC volunteers role-play their eventual duties when possible.
- Offer to role-play emergency victims or health clients so medical and health volunteers can offer important feedback to other responders.
Follow exercises with an analysis of the unit’s performance and additional training as needed.

Promoting Volunteer Safety

Include a thorough understanding of your MRC’s policies and procedures in volunteer training. This is critical to reducing the risk of harm and possible liability.
Require volunteers to undergo periodic physical exams as appropriate to their MRC duties.
Verify that volunteers have current immunizations, particularly when working in public health settings or assignments.
Maintain easily accessible records once a volunteer has completed all required training.
Develop procedures with your response partners so that your volunteer’s qualifications (training, required credentialing, legal restrictions on practice, scope of volunteer’s duties, etc.) can be checked and verified for efficient planning and utilization during an emergency or other public health response situation.

Spontaneous Volunteers and Volunteer Convergence

Develop a plan for using spontaneous volunteers who will “converge” on the scene of an emergency or other response situation.
Clarify which duties spontaneous volunteers can perform and those that fall outside the scope of your MRC or outside the limits of local legal protections.
Remember that contact with spontaneous volunteers is a possible first step toward recruitment and more thorough training for the next time they might be needed.

Retaining Volunteers

Secure your volunteers’ welfare, as they represent a considerable investment of time and effort.
Seek to provide for the volunteers’ basic motivations:
- Achievement
- Affiliation
- Recognition
- Power/leadership

Serving a Satisfying Purpose

Utilize your volunteers in a manner that brings them satisfaction.
Remember that satisfaction will differ from person to person. Do not over- or underutilize individual volunteers. Determine what amount of involvement is right for them.
Consider involving the volunteers who need to remain busy in some of the many public health-related activities to benefit your community.

Post-Response Activities

Solicit feedback from volunteers after utilization.
Work with your community partners to develop ways of providing for the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of your volunteers after a response.
- Respect individual needs for privacy; do not force emotional disclosure. Show your willingness to listen to your volunteers, and they will decide how much they want to share.
- As appropriate, refer volunteers for additional emotional support.

Recognition and Appreciation

Recognize and celebrate all volunteer efforts, but how you do it may vary.
Learn your volunteers’ particular needs for recognition and appreciation. You will develop a combination of these recognition activities that meet the unit’s needs.

Advocating for Volunteers

Take a proactive stance in your community on behalf of your volunteers. It can be one of the most powerful signs of your commitment to their welfare.
Give volunteers the tools they need to effectively advocate for the MRC.

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Last Updated on 12/12/2007