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Q. What is PHEVR? |
PHEVR stands for Public Health Emergency Volunteer Reserve. It
is a partnership between the local Health Department and your
community. By establishing the PHEVR program, your local health
department is enhancing its ability to respond in a public
health emergency situation.
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Q.
What is the purpose of PHEVR? |
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PHEVR’s mission is to provide medical and non-medical personnel
to assist in a public health emergency. The purpose of the PHEVR
program is to recruit volunteers (medical and non-medical) and
train them before an event occurs to save time in the response
phase of a public health emergency. In Northeastern North
Dakota a database of PHEVR volunteers will be maintained by the
United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Area. It should
help minimize the number of spontaneous volunteers and minimize
the response capacity in the event of an emergency.
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Q. Why is PHEVR necessary? |
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Every disaster has a public health component. A public health
emergency situation could range from a flood to bio-terrorism to
an influenza epidemic. Having a database of identified and
pre-screened volunteers will aid in the response time, and thus
enable officials to help the community recover from the disaster
quicker.
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Q. What eligibility requirements are there to sign up for PHEVR? |
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For safety reasons, all PHEVR volunteers must be at least 18
years old and live, work or go to school in North Dakota.
Individuals that are retired or unemployed would be covered
under ND Worker’s Compensation if injured while assisting as a
PHEVR volunteer in an emergency situation.
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Q. What volunteer roles are available for individuals with
medical backgrounds? |
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A variety of medical positions would need to be filled in the
event that a mass clinic was needed to dispense antibiotics or
to provide immunizations to the general public. These might
include:
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Triage (Nurse/EMT) - Direct ill patients to
special areas for assistance
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Medical Screeners - Review patient history and
answer questions
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Patient Education - Extensive medical
screening and referral
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Physician Evaluators - Evaluate ill/additional
screening
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Vaccinator - Administer immunizations
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EMT - Provide emergency medical assistance
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Q. What volunteer roles are available for individuals with
non-medical backgrounds? |
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Volunteers that perform non-medical tasks are just as critical
as medical personnel. Some of the roles for non-medical staff
may include:
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Information Distribution - Assemble and hand
out packets
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Logistics/Supplies - Order, distribute and
track supplies
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Data Entry - Collect registration info and
retain records
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Traffic Flow - Maintain order in parking areas
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Interpreter
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General Assistance - Orientation, referral and
float staff
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Q. Who
should I contact for more information? |
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Delbert Streitz
Emergency Preparedness & Response Coordinator
Grand Forks Public Health Department
151 S. 4th Street, Suite N301
Grand Forks, ND 58201
Phone: (701) 787-8111
Fax: (701) 787-8145
dstreitz@grandforksgov.com
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