Volunteering for Disaster Response
BWH is working with the state Department of Public Health to register physicians, physician assistants, nurses, respiratory therapists and other health care professionals interested in responding in the event of a disaster.
The Massachusetts System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals, or MSAR, is a state-run database of pre-credentialed health care professionals interested in volunteering their services in the event of a public health emergency.
“The state set up MSAR after Hurricane Katrina as an efficient and quick way to coordinate the response,” said Gwen Gilchrist, director of Provider Services. “In a disaster, the state would look to that database and choose the type of volunteers they need to respond to that particular event.”
DPH would work with BWH to ensure that the hospital could send the needed volunteers.
The state’s incident command system is similar to the HEICS system used by BWH, and anyone who registers for MSAR should consider attending one of the HEICS training sessions at BWH or online.
About 45 staff members are registered on MSAR. If you are interested, visit www.mass.gov/msar or contact Amy Kirkwood, MSAR program coordinator for DPH, at msar@dph.state.ma.us or 617-624-5193.