Improved Vetting of Medical Volunteers for Disasters

The response phase of a disaster or public health emergency is not an ideal time for health care facilities to verify the licenses and credentials of medical volunteers. As such, each state utilizes what is known as the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP).

Created by Congress in 2002 and now managed by the Administration of Strategic Preparedness and Response’s (ASPR) Office of Health Care Readiness, this program streamlines the process of vetting volunteer medical personnel by providing a system to verify health professionals' identification, credentials, and other key information before disasters and public health emergencies.

Recently, officials in Nebraska made improvements to provide a reliable registration system with notification capabilities, so they got to work.

Michelle Hill, Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Coordinator collaborated with the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Division of Behavioral Health Response Team (BHRT), and National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to validate that verification needs were met in the upgrade. These additions will ensure that multiple volunteer registration needs across the state are met.

Nebraska’s DHHS worked with the Office of the Chief Information Officer to integrate the ESAR-VHP program with the current Health Alert Network (HAN) and the state’s licensure system to verify licensed professionals holding a State of Nebraska license for their profession.

The improved system can automatically vet licensed professions for a valid license that meets the minimum requirements of the ESAR-VHP program. The system can also send notifications to registrants to query availability and respond when activated. In addition, information can be sent to local MRC units to contact parties interested in participating in MRC activities. Finally, to provide a continuum of operations, multiple users can now access the registration to pull lists and send notifications. This allows the program to meet grant requirements and time deadlines.

The DHHS Emergency Preparedness Response Unit has included increasing volunteer registrations as part of its performance measures for the HPP program. In the first month of the new system release, 213 people have registered. Since work began on modifying the program, DHHS along with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will review the Nebraska Volunteer Plan and make changes as necessary.

For more information or to register for the Nebraska ESAR-VHP, please visit https://volunteers.ne.gov/ESAR-VHP/faces/jsp/login.xhtml.

Find your local ESAR-VHP program outside of Nebraska at https://aspr.hhs.gov/ESAR-VHP/Pages/Register.aspx