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Developing: Post-response Activities

After any utilization of volunteers in an emergency situation, there may be an impulse to return to normal as quickly as possible. However, there are two areas in which the MRC’s leadership should focus its energies, which are to:

1. Document volunteer utilization. For more information on how to collect utilization information, see the Establishing and Maintaining Your MRC Unit’s Organization section of the Technical Assistance Series. The purpose is to solicit feedback from volunteers about their participation in the response. It will be important to determine whether procedures worked as well as anticipated and whether there were unexpected occurrences that might affect or possibly help future planning efforts. You will want to maintain your activation procedures and remain in touch with your volunteers’ experiences.

   While you are soliciting this important information—and communicating a willingness to receive feedback from volunteers, which can support retention—you also are encouraging other aspects of the experience.

2. Secure volunteers’ emotional, mental, and physical well-being. If a volunteer is impaired as a consequence of his or her MRC activities—which may be post-traumatic symptoms or simply as a decrease in baseline functioning—it always is appropriate to make a referral for more in-depth counseling or other psychiatric support. There are many resources available to help you plan for this aspect of post-response activities (e.g., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s First Responder Stress). If possible, you should build a mental health component into your unit or partner with a local agency that provides mental health services.

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Last Updated on 8/23/2006