OHIO MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS
RESPONSE![](media/image1.jpeg){width="0.8611111111111112in"
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HURRICANE KATRINA -- September 21, 2005

Ohio Medical Reserve Corps Registry =
http://[www.serveohio.org](http://www.serveohio.org/)

**Federal and State-based Initiatives**

**Resource Identification Process**

This document is intended to provide an overview the attached flow chart
regarding various federal and state initiatives for registration and use
of medical volunteers, medical-related volunteers, and public health
personnel. The chart attempts to capture three conceptually distinct
processes to address licensure, liability, and workers' compensation
issues for volunteers and personnel who may be sent to hurricane
affected areas.

1\. The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) is designed to
provide a mechanism for states and local governments to share resources
and mutual aid to another state during an emergency.

2\. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
initiative is an effort to identify and use private medical providers
through hospital-based team(s) concept.

3\. The United States Office of the Surgeon General's National Medical
Reserve Corps (NMRC)/American Red Cross (ARC) initiative is an effort to
identify and use private medical providers on an individual basis
through the auspices of the ARC.

Each process is at varying stages of evolution and the attached chart
reflects the best available understanding of each process at the time
the chart was drafted (09/21/05).

**EMAC**

When in need, a requesting state will notify other EMAC states through
the states' coordinating agencies (the Ohio Emergency Management Agency
in Ohio) of the specific need and request assistance. The responding
state will notify the requesting state of its availability. If the
requesting state accepts the offer, the responding state will move to
deploy the resources to the requesting state.

State and local government employees are encouraged to notify their
employing agency of their interest in responding. The governmental
agencies are encouraged to maintain a list of interested employees and
their corresponding skill sets. If the governmental agency is a local
county, municipal, or township entity, the local agency should
communicate the list of interested employees to its corresponding state
agency who will in turn communicate the list to the Ohio Department of
Health (ODH) as the lead coordinating agency for health and medical
issues. For local public health entities, such lists should be
transmitted to the regional public health coordinators who will in turn
provide the information to ODH.

**HHS**

HHS has established a process by which private, non-governmental
hospitals may identify teams of individuals willing to assist in the
Katrina disaster relief and recovery. Individual hospitals are to
communicate their team names to their respective regional hospital
coordinators who will in turn forward the information to the Ohio
Hospital Association (OHA). OHA will forward the team names to the
American Hospital Association via a secure Web site established by HHS.

HHS has indicated it will communicate mobilization requests through
state health departments and state hospital associations. ODH, OHA, and
the Ohio Community Service Council (who administers the Ohio Citizen
Corps \[OCC\] database) work together to keep the process as streamlined
as possible considering the present circumstances. HHS is also working
collaboratively with the Surgeon General's NMRC program.

**NMRC/ARC**

The NMRC program is working in cooperation with the ARC to identify
individuals with the appropriate skill sets to work with the ARC. NMRC
has contacted local MRC units and the state MRC coordinators (in Ohio,
MRC efforts are coordinated by ODH and OCC) to identify the required
individuals. Once individuals are identified by the MRC program, the
individuals complete the required ARC documentation and if the
application is accepted, ARC will activate and deploy the individual.

**Liability and Licenses**

It is very important volunteers not self-deploy. The key to an effective
response is coordination. Additionally, the laws of each state as to
liability and professional licenses will interact differently with each
volunteer mechanism outlined above.

Volunteer resources deployed according to EMAC will be considered agents
of the requesting state. The requesting state will extend whatever
liability immunity its own government employees possess for the duration
of the emergency. Additionally, the requesting state will deem the
out-of-state professional licenses or certifications of the responding
personnel to be legally recognized within the requesting state for the
duration of the emergency.

Hospital teams deployed by HHS will be employed by the federal
government as unpaid temporary federal employees for the duration of the
deployment. In short, the members of the deployed hospital teams will be
federal agents for the duration of their deployment. Matters of
liability and licensure will be questions of federal law. In other
words, liability matters will be covered by the federal Tort Claims Act
and as federal employees, no additional action will be necessary in
order to validate a professional license or certification so long as the
federal employee acts within the scope of his or her federal employment.

Finally, MRC/ARC volunteers will operate under the auspices of the ARC.
As such, matters of liability and licensure shall be addressed to ARC
through the usual mechanisms. As long as the MRC/ARC volunteer acts
within the scope of his or her ARC assignment, no further action will be
required as to liability and licensure, as he or she will be considered
an agent of0 ARC.