Volunteers can be engaged in any type of emergency response—floods, wildfires, earthquakes and even acts of terror. Recent examples of volunteers emerging to support response and recovery operations during a disaster include BC’s 2021 atmospheric river and the 2022 earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Volunteers, motivated by a desire to help their community, can make a valuable contribution to a disaster, so planning for effective and meaningful volunteer participation in your response operations is essential.
Volunteer types
Not all volunteers are alike. While many are experienced and trained, such as search and rescue volunteers, others can be spontaneous, i.e., they just show up to help. So how do you include and plan for all types of volunteers in your emergency management plans?
Spontaneous or convergent volunteers
Spontaneous volunteers will often converge at the scene of the incident, eager and ready to help, regardless of whether their support has been requested. Typically, they haven’t been previously affiliated, prepared or trained by the specific organizations or entities they’re supporting. This adds a layer of complexity to integrating these spontaneous volunteer’s skills and services into an operation. Because of their lack of experience, spontaneous volunteers necessitate the most robust planning process.
Affiliate volunteers
Affiliated volunteers are community members already trained and associated with a relevant volunteer organization participating in an emergency response. As opposed to spontaneous volunteers, affiliated volunteers can be more seamlessly engaged in the response.
Micro volunteers
Micro volunteers perform tasks in small, unpaid increments of time. They’re often not required to go through a rigorous application or screening process or a training period, which makes their inclusion more straightforward.
How to prepare for a surge of volunteer types
Each volunteer type will require a different management approach—and all can be equally important in a response. Here’s how you can go about preparing your organization for a surge of volunteers should a disaster strike your business or community.
1. Familiarize yourself with volunteer standards and regulations
Volunteer standards and regulations exist, but they may vary by region. Become familiar with the standards in your area and/or country. They exist to keep both your volunteers and your business safe. The following resources can help when creating the framework of your plan.
· Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement
· Volunteer Canada’s Safe Steps to Screening
· Universal Declaration on Volunteering
2. Incorporate volunteers in your emergency management plan
Regulators are starting to request that operators of some critical infrastructure, like pipelines, have convergent volunteer management plans in place. Determine ahead of time what positions convergent volunteers can fill and who’ll be in charge. In addition, consider the following questions when developing your plan.
· Which type (i.e., spontaneous, affiliate and/or micro) of volunteers will you need, what positions will they fill and how many can you manage at one time?
· Who’ll be in charge? Determine if you have the resources to manage your volunteers or if you’d need to hire outside consultants. If so, where and how would you train them?
· Does your insurance cover volunteer inclusion in your operations?
· What types of equipment would you need to provide to ensure volunteers can fulfil their roles? This could include technology, office supplies and equipment, safety gear, as well as vehicles or other operational equipment.
· How will you provide volunteers shelter, transportation, food and water and personal protective equipment (PPE)?
· Will you have options for volunteers to go to for information and registration? This could be a pre-identified physical volunteer coordination centre or an online portal.
3. Get ahead of the surge of volunteers
By developing and testing your plan before an emergency occurs, you’ll equip your team with the knowledge and confidence to efficiently manage volunteers during a response. Your preparations could include:
· assigning and training a volunteer lead and volunteer roles within your organization
· creating forms and other onboarding materials
· identifying and pre-contracting suppliers
· practicing and updating your volunteer plan in exercises or drills so your business is able to seamlessly respond to convergent volunteers that show up when a disaster strikes
No matter the disaster, volunteers have proven to be consistent in their desire to help their community. In fact, the Conference Board of Canada reports that volunteers added over two billion hours to Canada’s work effort in 2017, the contributions of which are valued at $55.9 billion.* So plan for your volunteers early and don’t get caught unprepared with a community at your door.
Contact us for customized emergency management planning
Preparing your business for emergencies, such as major incident like a spill or flood, is critical.For more information, contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss what we offer so you can effectively incorporate volunteers into your plans.