Call for volunteers:

In response to Hurricane Harvey, the Direct Deployment Process (Through the American Red Cross) for qualified health and mental health professionals has been activated.

The link to Volunteer Connection on this page is a special entry point that should only be used by eligible health and mental health volunteers:  www.redcross.org/hurricane-harvey-health-professionals.

Once the Direct Deployment volunteers have completed their DRO assignment, their Volunteer Connection profile will be passed to their region.

Please share this widely with your colleagues.  The American Red Cross will be needing all hands on deck.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents of Texas as they brave the relentless onslaught of Hurricane Harvey. We thank all the emergency responders, including volunteers, for their heroic efforts to rescue so many individuals stranded by the floodwaters. We commend our fellow nurses working in Texas, whose current efforts under severe circumstances, accentuate the importance of having a well-trained and prepared nursing workforce, capable of responding to disasters.

AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES & DISEASE REGISTRY (ATSDR)/CDC offers free courses along with continuing education credits* on topics related to disaster nursing. Visit the website at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.html
Courses include Taking an Exposure History: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=33&po=0

*Continuing Nursing Education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC)

According to their website: ‘ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine (CSEM) are self-instructional, continuing-education primers designed to increase primary care providers’ knowledge of hazardous substances and aid in the evaluation of patients potentially exposed to hazardous substances. Each CSEM comes with additional companion products such as Grand Rounds in Environmental Medicine and Patient Education/Care Instruction Sheets.’