Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program Details

Membership Requirements

The following are the requirements for membership within the Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program, and the process will include an interview and screening process by the Volunteer Program Coordinator:

  1. Be at least 18 years old.
  2. Citizen of the United States or legal resident.
  3. A person can be a member of another volunteer organization, such as the RSVP, and be a member of this program. Any potential conflict of duties will be worked out between the Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator, the volunteer, and the volunteer’s other organization to the best interest of all involved parties.
  4. Not on the sex offender registry. The Volunteer Program Coordinator will check the National Sex Offender Registry website for each potential volunteer to determine if they are listed as a registered sex offender.  If there is a positive outcome as a registered sex offender, the volunteer will not be accepted in the program.
  5. A background check with the volunteer’s permission will be completed at Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program expense utilizing the State of Iowa Non-Law Enforcement Record Check (SING) to verify the situation.  If the background check indicates that there is a finding of concern or if the potential volunteer refuses a background check, they will not be accepted as a volunteer.  The volunteer will have the opportunity to review the findings and protest the said findings if they believe they are incorrect.
  6. Driver’s License. While a driver’s license is not required to belong to the Program, it is expected if a member is driving a personal vehicle, they have a valid driver’s license and follow all laws.  If allowed to drive a government or county owned vehicle, a check of the individual’s driver’s license will be conducted and specific guidance and expectations of operating the vehicle will be provided and briefed.
  7. Handicap Accessibility. Reasonable accommodation will be provided as best as possible, upon request, for persons with disabilities to fully participate in the program.
  8. Non-Discrimination. The Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program will not discriminate against volunteers and in the operation of its program based on race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, political affiliation, marital or parental status, or military service.
  9. The Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program will make reasonable efforts to utilize community bilingual resources to assist non-English speaking volunteers in their quest to become a volunteer.  Bilingual volunteers are always desired.

 

Duties

Volunteers will have the choice to support the county in response and recovery efforts in multiple ways, though most duties would often be similar in nature and of an administrative nature primarily.  The list below are the current potential activities a volunteer may be called upon to assist in:

  1. Volunteer Reception Center. A Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) is activated by the Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency as the result of a local disaster or emergency requiring large scale volunteer support.  The VRC will register volunteers that show up to help wherever they can and are often called “spontaneous volunteers”.  During a disaster or emergency, it is important to effectively manage volunteers, and the VRC will be the first point of this process as volunteers register to assist.  Examples of VRC missions include search and rescue operations and debris removal.  Program Volunteers may be used to help set up the VRC and then sign in spontaneous volunteers prior to their final assignment in the specific mission the VRC was activated for.  These duties may include checking out and other administrative processing duties and may also serve as runners and liaisons for the various stations to assist VRC staff and spontaneous volunteers during the process.  Program volunteers would not be used for actual field operations unless otherwise trained for such duties.
  2. Disaster Reception Center.  A Disaster Reception Center (DRC), sometimes also known as a Multiagency Resource Center (MARC), are used to provide and solicit information from those affected by disasters.  A location would be selected close to or within the impacted area where members of the public can come to and be provided with information and/or sign up for assistance.  These centers can include local, state, private, and federal agencies who provide aid and services to disaster victims.  Program volunteers may be used to help set up the DRC or MARC and check-in those seeking services at the DRC or MARC.  This may also include checking out and other administrative processing duties along with acting as runners for the various stations to assist staff and disaster victims during the process.  Program volunteers would not be used for discussing or providing specific recovery services being offered and would serve in an administrative role.
  1. Disaster Distribution Center.  A Disaster Distribution Center would be used to provide various materials, food, water, clothing, and other items that have been made available to disaster survivors from various sources.  These centers would operate under specific timelines normally during the day and for a specific period of time and could include local, state, private, and federal agencies and their volunteers who provide aid and services to disaster victims.  They would normally be set up in a location near the area impacted by the event.  Program volunteers may be used to help set up the Disaster Distribution Center and check-in those seeking services or aid in locating and providing the items being sought.  Other duties may include arranging items within the center or soliciting those coming to the shelter on what they may need that are not available for action by the agencies supporting the site.
  2. Disaster Donation Center.  A Disaster Donation Center is a location where people can drop off donations for use by disaster victims.  These centers would operate under specific timelines normally during the day and for a specific period of time and could include local, state, private, and federal agencies and their volunteers who provide aid and services to disaster victims.  They would normally be set up in a location near the area impacted by the event.  These may be co-located with a Disaster Distribution Center.  Program volunteers may be used to help set up the Disaster Donation Center and check-in those dropping off items to include arranging items within the center and helping to load vehicles for the items to be transported to the Distribution Center if not co-located.
  3. Emergency Shelter Operations. The operation of emergency shelters helps communities provide a safe and secure place for individuals and families to stay before, during and/or after a disaster.  Shelters provide a safe place for individuals and families affected by a disaster to sleep or rest and may offer, among other things, food, snacks, beverages, cots, blankets, sanitation facilities, safety, first aid and information on recovery efforts.  Shelters provide services to everyone in the community and abide by principles of confidentiality when handling shelter resident information.  If the need to provide emergency shelter arises, Program volunteers would assist in setting up the shelter and then registering people into and out of the shelter and providing temporary shelter support and general supervision to those using the facility.  This could include Pet Sheltering, and these requirements would be addressed in the Job Skills Handbook and additional training.  Normally Emergency Management would only operate an Emergency Shelter for 24 hours or less before requesting Red Cross to set up a long-term shelter run by Red Cross staff and volunteers if the need be over one day.  Another type of emergency shelter is a cooling or heating station which is established when power is lost to an area and may be long-term in duration.  This shelter is established in a location with power is set up for residents to go to for short periods of time to have temporary access to heat or cooling.  These would be used for extreme temperature conditions.
  4. Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is normally located at the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office and is a location from which leaders of a jurisdiction or organization coordinate information and resources to support incident management activities (on-scene operations) during a response or recovery operation due to an emergency or disaster.  Program volunteers may need support in staffing a phone bank to answer questions with prepared scripted information or following up with county residents who may have been affected by a disaster or emergency.  Additionally, they could provide administrative support within the center itself.  Program volunteers may need support in staffing a phone bank to answer questions with prepared scripted information or following up with county residents who may have been affected by a disaster or emergency.  Additionally, they could provide administrative support within the center itself.  They may include remote deployment to other locations outside the Sheriff’s Office EOC location normally in a building or fixed site.
  5. Miscellaneous Duties. This would be based on the individual volunteer and their ability and/or desire to be available for other roles and responsibilities such as Pet Shelters.  Training and guidance documents would be provided.  An additional miscellaneous duty would be working at an information or recruiting booth for the Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program or other potential other emergency management activities.  A common example of this would be during the Allamakee County Fair or other activity within the county.

These duties could be anywhere in the county though typically it would be in one of the county’s six cities or other smaller outlying communities.  However, there may be times when responses will be made in a field environment within a tent, farm building, shed, or mobile command post trailer.  These work locations may be referred to as stations in this and other guidance documents.

These work locations may be referred to as stations in this and other guidance documents.  Currently these duties would not include working outside Allamakee County, but based on individual volunteer desires, this may be option for supporting a bordering county during a major crisis.  Additionally, Program Volunteers will not normally be allowed to work alone.

 

Availability

Volunteers may be called upon to serve in various locations throughout the county but have the option to refuse the request without explanation if they do not desire to travel the distance from their home to the duty station.   The guidelines below reference the expected work timeframes and availability of being able to be activated:

  1. Normal Work Shifts. 4-to-6-hour shifts will be the normal expected period of time to work when activated.  This can be changed based on the individual volunteer’s choice or abilities when requested to be activated.
  2. Normal Hours of Operation. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. will be normal hours of operation a volunteer would be used to provide services.  This can be changed based on the individual volunteer’s choice or abilities when requested to be activated as some disasters require support throughout the 24-hour day and at any hour of the day.
  3. Days of the Week. Volunteers may be called upon to operate any day of the week or weekend but can refuse the request without any explanation.
  4. Times of the Year. It is recognized some volunteers may have certain timeframes during the year when they are not available due to normal travel, religious, long-term vacations, and other reasons and are all valid reasons to deny a work request.

 

Activation Notification

A volunteer will be notified of one of two ways when activation is determined:

  1. Phone. The preferred method of notifying volunteers will be by phone.  This will be done primarily by text, the Allamakee County Alert Iowa Emergency Notification System (Alert Iowa), or a direct phone call with the Alert Iowa system the preferred method for initial notification.  Members of the Allamakee County Volunteer Program with smart phones will automatically be signed up for the Allamakee County Alert Iowa Emergency Notification System which will allow contact by phone and/or text.  Only alerts related to actual or simulated emergencies will be sent.
  1. Email. This will be used for normally routine correspondence or for follow-up on additional information related to an activation notification by phone.

The activation notification will provide the basic information needed for a volunteer to determine if they can or cannot respond to include the duties needed, location of assignment, time frames to include start and ending times, and any special notes.

As much as possible, activation notifications will be sent out as early as possible and may be even the day before.  Normally 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. will be normal timeframe for sending out notifications, however notifications may be sent out after these hours depending upon the circumstances but would not result in any audible notification.  Any changes will be made known to the volunteers to include the end of the requirement if that should happen prior to actual deployment.

A volunteer is never under any obligation to accept an activation request and has the right to refuse without any repercussions or explanation.  This is a voluntary duty and therefore the final decision rests with the volunteer.

 

Training

All volunteers will receive initial training with most duties being predominately administrative in nature requiring minimal preparation.   Trained supervisors will normally be available to overwatch and support volunteers in the performance of their duties.  Additional training may be provided with the potential for more detailed and positions of responsibilities for those seeking such duties.  Any training will be conducted at no cost to Program Volunteers outside any in-county travel expenses.

 

Meetings

Normally three meetings at a minimum will be held each calendar year with one meeting during the months of January to March, April to June, and September to December and not meeting during the summer.  The intent of these meetings being to conduct refresher training on normal volunteer duties and responsibilities along with updating any personal information, duties, and availability criteria.  Also, meetings will provide updates on the overall county response and recovery operating procedures.

Meeting notes and presented documents will be mailed out following each meeting to all members.  Members unable to attend may request an individual meeting with the Emergency Management Coordinator.  Attendance rosters and timesheets for the RSVP Program will be filled out as needed to document attendance and participation.

Newsletters will also be sent out between meetings to update members of any changes, upcoming events, topics of interested related to the program, and other subjects.  The goal will be to publish one per quarter during the calendar year.

There is no required participation in meetings to maintain membership within the Volunteer Program.  The overall goal of the program is to ensure members are trained to perform duties and responsibilities normally associated with their activation.  Participation in meetings and any training or exercises is highly recommended and are essential to ensure readiness.

 

Exercises

It is the intent of the Allamakee County Emergency Response Volunteer Program to include and integrate Program Volunteers in either standalone exercises or multiple organization exercises used to test and evaluate response and recovery activities following a disaster or emergency.

Exercises help build readiness for threats and hazards by providing a low-risk, cost-effective environment to test and validate plans, policies, procedures and capabilities, and to identify resource requirements, capability gaps, strengths, areas for improvement, and potential best practices.

 

Assignment Related Costs

  1. Travel. Volunteers will be required to travel to and from their duty location using their own form of transportation.  The specific location to deploy to would be identified in their notification process and a parking area will be provided near the work site.  Currently, there is no reimbursement of personal expenses such as time and fuel unless otherwise identified prior to a response.
  2. Expenses.  There is no reimbursement of personal expenses such as time and fuel unless otherwise identified prior to a response.  If any safety equipment or other duty specific items are needed in the performance of the volunteers’ duties, these will be provided by the Emergency Management Agency or other sources.
  3. Food and Beverages. Water will normally be provided at each duty station with any other beverages, normally the responsibility of the volunteer to obtain or bring at their own cost.  Food will normally not be provided unless a volunteer is required to work a shift during a normal meal period and arrangements will then be made to best provide a meal during that time with shifts normally scheduled to start and end at normal mealtime periods.  Snacks may be available, but normally any snacks or other food items desired should be brought by the volunteer.

 

Insurance

  1. Vehicle. A volunteer operating their own vehicle when going to their duty station and returning home supporting a response and recovery operation will be covered by their own vehicle insurance coverage as the primary.
  2. Health. Volunteers would only be covered by their own health insurance plans as Allamakee County does not provide health insurance or workers comp to volunteers.
  3. Liability. When performing their duties, a volunteer is covered under the County’s Liability Insurance unless they commit improper or illegal activity.

 

Removal from Program

Normally a volunteer can only be removed from the Allamakee County Volunteer Program per their decision, improper and/or illegal activities while on duty or personal illegal activities that would make one unable to represent the county in response and recovery operations.