Database of Health Workforce Innovations
684
Mobilization of a Nursing Community After a Disaster
With the opening of these shelters, it was quickly apparent that a large number of nurses would be needed to provide ARC Disaster Health Services to these evacuees
I sent out a brief plea for nurse volunteers, and less than 48 hrs later over 100 individuals arrived for training. Most of these individuals were registered nurses, although there were also a few physicians, physician’s assistants, and paramedics. These individuals endured 6 hrs of training that was less than ideal because of the rapidly emerging situation, and signed up to begin staffing the shelters immediately. Some nurses went straight from the training to a shelter assignment; others went home to sleep for a few hours before staffing a shelter for the night shift.
A full-time RN to manage the day-to-day functions of training, staffing, and coordination.
A full-time RN to manage the day-to-day functions of training, staffing, and coordination.
- Cross-sector staff deployments
- Other
- Mental health services
- Mental Health Workers
- Nurse Specialists*
- Social Workers
- Students
This article is a personal account of the author’s experience of coordinating American Red Cross Disaster Health Services in her home community (Fort Worth, TX) following Hurricane Katrina. Although the community was 550 miles away from the impacted area, thousands of evacuees arrived in this community in need of immediate attention
- Emergency Medical Services
- Mental Health Services
- Primary Health Care
- Urban/Suburban
Our process of checking credentials was facilitated by our state’s online license verification system for nursing licenses. Our initial process was to check licenses and photo identification cards when volunteers arrived at the shelter where they were ass
Research Intervention - outcome data available
Susan Mace Weeks
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Texas Christian University, Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences
United States
USA