Sometimes a volunteer's special talents are not immediately needed. Know the liability situation. Check that there is coverage by liability clauses in the insurance structure of the volunteer agency with which you affiliate. Volunteers not registered with a disaster response organization should assume their own liability. Remember that the use of volunteers is a coordinated process.
Volunteers are most useful when they are able to do the right thing at the right time.
That is, they are used as part of an organized recovery process. Volunteer agencies coordinate the assignment of people with abilities, skills, and training to special tasks. Be committed to the response effort. Response and recovery work is usually dirty, monotonous, mundane, and not glamorous. There is little individual recognition.