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This communication was sent to all OTC DSHR members the week of August 2, 2010, either by email link or by postal mail if no current email address was available.
July 1, 2010 Disaster Response Structure Changes announced by National HQ.
There have been a number of recent, and not so recent, changes in the DSHR system and in disaster response operations and procedures. Therefore, we are taking this opportunity to both notify you of the new changes, and to remind you of existing requirements. This message is divided into three sections:
July 2, 2010, Changes
New Disaster Response Model
The elimination of the Administrator position, the creation of Assistant Director positions, and the creation of the Chief position have resulted in the restructure of the DRO (Disaster Relief Operation) Concept of Operations (or the other way around.) This model is detailed in the DRO Leadership Structure Concept of Operations document, a copy of which is located in the Document Library (DSHR Info section).
This Concept of Operations filters down to us at the local level and will affect the structure of our response to large local disasters.
New Group/Activity/Position structure
- Effective July 1, 2010, a new Group/Activity/Position chart was adopted. Some Groups have changed and positions have been renamed, moved, or combined. In addition, the Administrator position was eliminated and the new Chief position was created.
- The new Chart is posted on CrossNet and in the Document Library (DSHR Info section--"Group and Activities Chart with Descriptions").
- A summary of the changes ("July 2007 GAP Changes") is also posted in the same section in the Document Library
New requirements adopted
The Activity and Position requirements have been completely rewritten, resulting in increased requirements in many areas, including Sheltering and Health Services.
- The new requirements have been posted in the Document LIbrary (DSHR Competencies section.) Competencies are detailed in a separate document for each of the 32 DSHR Activities. Please review those that are relevant to your area(s) of interest.
- The new requirements include Competencies for each activity as well as training and participation requirements. In many circumstances, these competencies can only be demonstrated through experience. I our situation that experience must be gained through local activity as our national deployment opportunities have been limited of late.
- Grandfathering/grandmothering.
- It is not clear at this point whether volunteers who were qualified for a particular activity on June 30 will inherit that qualification in the new system. This will probably depend, in part, on the magnitude of the next disaster, and, in part, on the volunteer’s recent deployment experience.
- Since we cannot count on inheriting our qualifications, all DSHR member must review the new requirements and acquire the additional training and experience specified for their preferred activities.
- Staffing is working with ES Training to develop offerings to assist volunteers in satisfying these new requirements. This is, however, complicated by the current implementation of a new national training database: SABA LMS. (See the July 2010 New Learning Management System page.)
Requirements Review
Requirements for All Disaster Responders.
Core Requirements. The core requirement that all Disaster Responders are current members in good standing of the DSHR system remains the same. This means that your DSHR record must contain the following, in addition to all of the information provided in your original DSHR application:
- A current Health Status Record
- Current license information. License requirements for National and Local responders are discussed in detail in the sections below
Contact Information/Electronic Communications. In addition, all Emergency Services volunteers are required to have:
- Current contact information on file with the department, and
- A current email address (and access to the internet.) This requirement is important because:
- Almost all of our communications with our Responders occur electronically.,and
- Volunteer records are maintained in web-based systems: DSHR, Volgistics (the Chapter’s Volunteer Management database), and SABA LMS (the National ARC training management system—more about that later), and
- Chapter Web Page. Information about all matters related to the chapter and the department, including disaster response, forms, training calendar, requirements, events and meetings, etc, is made available on the Chapter Web Page
- Commitment. The 2008 version of the DSHR Handbook (currently under revision by National HQ) defines a disaster responder as someone who provides service to the local chapter at least once a quarter. We have not enforced this requirement with any diligence in the past, but are actively considering it now for two reasons:
- New DSHR training requirements include specific experience requirements that can only be satisfied through local service (additional discussion below under National Responders.)
- Our need for active participation from volunteers has increased dramatically as budget cuts have reduced employees throughout the chapter, and national regionalization initiatives have increased our statewide responsibilities.
Local Only Responders
- Comply with all requirements listed above for All Disaster Responders
- The following are examples of activities or positions that specifically require membership in good standing in the DSHR system
- DAT members (all levels)
- Leadership positions
- ERV drivers
- For all other activities, Disaster Responders could be called on at any time to support a large local operation requiring sheltering, feeding, casework, health services, mental health services, headquarters staff, etc. When we hit this level of operation there are some national recordkeeping requirements that kick in, including tracking responders in a national database. We cannot do that effectively if records are not current. Significant resources are diverted to chasing around for forms, training records, and license expirations at a time when we should be serving clients.
- License Requirements
- In Health Services (including Staff Health) and Disaster Mental Health, a current professional license is required for all members, whether they respond nationally or only locally. This is a national Red Cross requirement that we must enforce.
- Driver’s license. All national responders are required to have current driver’s license information on file with the Chapter and in the DSHR database, but so also are many local responders, depending on activity, including:
- DAT responders
- Authorized drivers
- ERV drivers
- In general, if your activity requires a license, we need to have current information on file.
National Responders
Many of the DSHR changes, including recent changes and those occurring in the past two or so years, primarily affect those of you who are interested in qualifying for national deployment.
- Current Records. Necessity of keeping your record current (not new but absolutely essential), including
- Annual Health Status Record
- All Licenses
- Contact information, including emergency contact
- All training, experience, and physical requirements satisfied
- Availability-DSHR Self-Serve (new in the last few years)
- While the DSHR Self-Serve system is not new, National is increasingly relying on the availability information specified in the DSHR record to initiate deployment offerings. This means that if you do not have your availability dates specified in your DSHR record, you will not be called for deployment when opening are available.
- We notify each new DSHR member of their DSHR Self-Serve login and password in a Welcome letter sent when the record has been processed into the system. In addition, we send this information out periodically to all DSHR members by email. We will send your login and password out by separate email in the next few days. Please save the information and the instructions. You are responsible for maintaining this portion of your DSHR record. Please read the DSHR Self-Serve information posted on the chapter web page, and note the following:
- Stating that you are available for a certain period means that if you receive a call, you will be able to get on a plane within twelve (12) hours. It is not an invitation for us to call and find out if you are available. It is a representation that you will be ready to go for the entire period specified. Therefore, entering availability from 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010 has no credibility and will not be taken seriously.
- You must fill in a beginning date and an end date, preferably for no more than a month at a time.
- Logging in to the DSHR system requires Internet Explorer
- You must turn off all pop-up blockers or you will be unable to log in to the system. In addition to the pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer, you must also turn off the pop-up blockers that are a part of any additional toolbars you may have installed, such as Yahoo or Google.
- The url for DSHR is https://dshr.redcross.org
- If you have previously changed your Self-Serve password and now can’t remember it, please let us know and we can reset it for you.
- Additional information about Self-Serve is located in the DSHR Self Service Information document in the Document Library (DSHR Info section)
- Physical Capacity Requirements and Restrictions (not new but still important)
- Each activity has physical requirements that are specified in the Physical Capacity Grid posted on the Document Library (DSHR Info section.) You will not be authorized for deployment if those requirements are not met. The grid is currently being revised and the new one will be posted when it is made available.
- Each disaster also has Restrictions imposed depending on the current conditions: examples are extreme heat, extreme cold, air quality, etc. If your health status record contains any of the restrictions applicable to the operation, you will not be eligible for deployment to that specific disaster.
- The importance of deploying a healthy workforce.
- It is our responsibility in Staffing, and your responsibility as a disaster volunteer, to assure that everyone we deploy to an operation is capable of performing the assigned tasks under whatever hardships exist on that operation. If you are assigned as a Feeding Service Associate and cannot lift fifty pounds you become a burden rather than a contributor, forcing others to perform the tasks that were assigned to you. If you have an undisclosed health condition that is aggravated by the hardship conditions on the operation and you become ill, then the organizational resources are diverted from clients in order to care for you.
- Deployment limitations (occurring over the last couple of years)
- As part of larger cost-cutting initiatives, the Red Cross has significantly reduced the number of deployment opportunities nationwide. Local chapter and regional groupings are expected to prepare for and handle internally operations that in the past would have automatically generated a nationwide call for DSHR volunteers. This responsibility includes actively recruiting spontaneous volunteers from the region rather than requesting DSHR volunteers from throughout the country. When these measures do not produce sufficient resources, the next step is to look for DSHR volunteers located in concentric circles extending out from the location of the disaster: first looking for those who are within a certain distance justifying travel by car, then those within close flying range. Only when these alternatives are exhausted are volunteers sought from all DSHR territories, and even then there may be a strict cap on airfare cost that limits our ability to respond from Oregon.
- As a consequence, we are seldom called upon to produce DSHR Service Associates for deployment to a national operation. Obviously this significantly restricts new volunteers from obtaining the experience necessary to increase their qualifications and therefore improve their eligibility for future deployment or promotion.
- A new Client Casework model has also resulted in fewer deployments in this activity: one that was often the largest group sent out in the past.
Record Review: All Responders
We are currently conducting a review of DSHR records to confirm compliance with requirements. Approximately half of our members do not have a current Health Status Record, for example. That is our focus right now, but we are also reviewing requirements and other information to assure that all volunteers whose availability code indicates that they are eligible for national deployment (CN) are in compliance with all requirements. For those records that have missing pieces, we will recode the records to CU (available in Local Unit Only) until those requirements are again satisfied.
In addition, we are reviewing all responder to determine whether they have been active with the chapter in the last year or so, and are archiving (inactivating) those records that show no activity. This document is already too long so we will leave a detailed discussion of the definition of an Active volunteer for another time.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this entire document. There is a lot going on in the DSHR world, and we are also affected by other changes, including regionalization issues and the SABA LMS implementation.
Please look for your DSHR Self-Serve information in a separate email sometime next week (after August 2nd) and also watch for additional information about the new training system. And watch the weather. It is, after all, hurricane season.
As you can see, we are quite busy as always. If you have computer skills and one to two days a week to offer the chapter, please let me know. We have an acute and ongoing need for office workers: specifically Info Desk and Casework: both requiring computer and telephone skills and a regular weekly commitment. You can find position descriptions for our current volunteer openings in the Document Library ("Disaster Services Volunteer Positions" section).
Thank you
Victoria
Victoria Short, ES Staffing
503-280-1495
otcstaffing@redcross-pdx.org
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