Email your Availability to the Staffing Office

Updated 12/8/2010

General Winter Availability

As we monitor winter storm activity, we request that our Disaster Services volunteers assess their long term availability for the winter season. In the event that a chapter disaster response is required, we will need to call on all of our volunteers to consider assisting with that response as appropriate to their training and experience.

The first step in generating that response is to have a sense of who is available. Please take a look at your calendar for the winter season and let us know if there are periods of time when you could be available to respond, possibly for several days. If we anticipate a response we will request more detailed information but would appreciate a general sense of your availability to assist with our planning.

We are looking for volunteers who would be available for any of the following:

1. A Disaster Response in your local area
2. Response requiring travel and overnight lodging (possibly in a shelter) in our service area
3. Participation on an Advance Team dispatched, possibly for several days, to an area where a response is anticipated due to inclement weather forecasts for that area.

Local Area Response

You are available for local response if you can commit to at least one eight hour shift in your preferred activity. This could be at a shelter, at headquarters, or in the field generally, depending on the tasks assigned.

Response Within OTC's Jurisdiction

You are available to travel to a location away from your home but within our Chapter jurisdiction. You should expect to work at that location for at least two to three days.

Advance Team

Purpose

Place trained Red Cross responders in a Community in advance of an imminent and probable disaster that will require a Chapter response

Qualifications

• Travel to an area where severe weather is anticipated in the next few days
• Understand that the anticipated disaster may not occur and you will return home without being required to initiate a Chapter disaster response 
• Ability to provide disaster response leadership, planning, and implementation support to a local community during and immediately following a disaster 
• Ability to work independently with limited resource support from Chapter headquarters
• Ability to collaborate with the local community with compassion and flexibility while following Red Cross principles, organization values and mission
• Previous disaster response experience and training in the assigned activity

Advance Team Position Description

Located in the Document Library | Disaster Services Volunteer Positions | Disaster Response Local | DR Advance Team

Let us Know

Please email us at otcstaffing@redcross-pdx.org with your availability and areas of interest/experience. In your response, please note specifically if you are interested in further information about Advance Team participation.