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Guidelines: Develop a Volunteer Training Program

Training Courses

Training program—Once applicants have been screened and accepted for membership in the MRC unit, an initial training program should be completed as soon as possible (ideally before volunteers participate in actual emergency operations).
Orientation course—At a minimum, an orientation course should be developed for new MRC volunteers. This orientation course should be designed to familiarize volunteers with the MRC unit and its roles and responsibilities in the community.
Core competencies—Although the Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps does not mandate specific training for MRC volunteers, it has developed basic core competencies and encourages MRC units to consider adopting them as part of their training program.

Each MRC member should:

Describe the procedure and steps necessary to protect the health, safety, and overall well-being of themselves, their families, the team, and the community.
Document that they have an existing personal and family preparedness plan.
Describe the chain of command (e.g., Emergency Management Systems, Incident Command System [ICS], National Incident Management System [NIMS]), MRC integration, and its application to a given incident.
Describe the local MRC unit’s role in public health and/or emergency response and its application to a given incident.
Describe their communication role(s) and processes with response partners, media, general public, and others.
Describe an event’s impact on the mental health of volunteers, responders, and others.
Demonstrate their ability to follow procedures for assignment, activation, reporting, and deactivation.
Identify limits to own skills, knowledge, and abilities as they pertain to the MRC.

Consider including basic ICS and NIMS courses, such as ICS-100 and IS-700 (the basic NIMS course), as part of their training curriculum.
- The NIMS Integration Center strongly recommends that volunteers with a direct role in emergency and incident management and response take ICS and NIMS training. The amount of training depends on the individual's position in response operations, as follows:
  - Entry Level—FEMA IS-700: NIMS, An Introduction and ICS-100: Introduction to ICS or equivalent
  - First Line, Single Resource, Field Supervisors—IS-700, ICS-100 and ICS-200: Basic ICS or its equivalent
  - Middle Management: Strike Team Leaders, Division Supervisors, Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Staff, etc.—IS-700, IS-800: National Response Plan, ICS-100, ICS-200 and ICS-300: Intermediate ICS
  - Command and General Staff; Area, Emergency and EOC Managers—IS-700, IS-800, ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-300 and ICS-400: Advanced ICS
Determine other training courses that might be appropriate and beneficial for volunteers based on the MRC unit’s roles and responsibilities and MRC volunteers’ specific job responsibilities.
Consider developing plans and procedures for just-in-time training (i.e., training necessary for a specific job accomplished immediately prior to an individual assuming the job). This training may be necessary for existing MRC members who are assigned jobs in an emergency and for individuals who volunteer with the MRC unit as part of a general call for volunteers during a large-scale emergency.

Training Sources

Many sources of medical, emergency management, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) response and public health training are available to MRC volunteers at little or no cost.
Training sources include:
- Federal government agencies (e.g., FEMA, HHS, etc.)
- State government agencies (e.g., emergency management, public health, etc.)
- NGOs (e.g., American Red Cross, National Association of County and City Health Officials, etc.)
- Colleges and universities
- Business and industry
- MRC TrainingFinder Real-Time Affiliate Integrated Network (TRAIN) (see MRC TRAIN below for more information)
Training sources are available on the MRC Web site at: http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/resources.asp?mode=ResourceDetails&ResID=37&RefID=Category&Category=9.
Consider developing in-house specialized courses (e.g., orientation courses, courses associated with specific jobs, etc.).

Exercises

Include exercises in MRC unit training programs. MRC units also should participate in exercises with their community response partners. Exercises are methods of evaluating responses to emergency incidents.
Design exercises so that MRC units can assess the readiness and training level of responding personnel and organizations.
Include organizations potentially affected by the type of scenario or response being exercised (i.e., agencies at all government levels, businesses, and charitable and community organizations).
Consider participating in:
- Full-scale exercises, the most complex and centered on a realistic scenario designed to evaluate response plans, methods, and procedures.
- Functional exercises, to evaluate specific components of an emergency response. These may be conducted in an emergency operations center (EOC) or in the field.
- Tabletop exercises, to involve a discussion and problem-solving session with agency personnel to determine if adequate policies, procedures and resources exist to manage an emergency.
- Drills, to conduct practice sessions for specific skills, functions, or procedures. An example of a drill would be nurses or paramedics practicing intubations.
- Orientations, to introduce personnel to a plan, procedure, or concept. In an orientation, the focus is on training and familiarization with roles, procedures, responsibilities, and personalities in an organization's or jurisdiction’s emergency management system.

Training Records

Maintain training records for all MRC unit members.
Instruct MRC volunteers to ensure their training records are current. Training records should be updated to reflect the completion of individual and unit training, exercises, and deployments.
Consider using a database, filing system, or log to track individual members’ training, certification, recertification deadlines, etc.
Consider using MRC TRAIN to record, track, and manage volunteer training.

MRC TRAIN

Consider using MRC TRAIN to manage the MRC unit training program. MRC TRAIN is a(n):
- Learning management system with a centralized, searchable database of relevant public health courses.
- Optional resource that MRC unit coordinators can use to manage their training program locally.
Access hundreds of public health courses from nationally recognized course providers through MRC TRAIN. These courses are offered as Web-based learning, on-site learning, and satellite broadcasts.
- A user can browse this course listing or search by keyword, subject area, course provider, or competency. Learning is captured in the form of an online transcript. This personal, printable course transcript is maintained for every registered user.
Query the learner records database to generate tailored reports regarding course rosters and individual learning so that TRAIN is a valuable tool for the management of public health workforce/volunteer development.

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Last Updated on 12/12/2007