FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Colorado Health Department Seeks Volunteers Prepared to Respond in Disasters

Denver, CO (March 1, 2007) – When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the state of Colorado felt the impact, despite being hundreds of miles away. Within weeks, as more than 5,000 Louisiana and Mississippi residents sought refuge in Colorado, the state’s ability to notify, manage and deploy volunteers to assist the displaced Gulf Coast residents was being tested.

            The Colorado experience was not unlike that felt in the days after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in 2001, when thousands of unsolicited volunteers stepped forward to provide medical assistance, only to be turned away because their identities or credentials could not be verified.

            Today, thanks to the launch of the new electronic Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System, Colorado public health officials say the state is well-equipped to handle large-scale public health emergencies and maximize the skills of volunteers.

            Built on the Global Secure Volunteer Mobilizer platform, the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System provides a secure, web-based system for registering, credentialing, mobilizing and communicating with individuals and groups of volunteers. The volunteer system improves Colorado’s emergency response capabilities by creating a reserve of qualified, screened volunteers ready to assist when disasters strike.

            “The hurricane season of 2005 was a big issue,” recalls Mike Moreland, coordinator of the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System. “During Katrina, we had hundreds of nurses who wanted to volunteer, but we didn’t have a way to verify their credentials, or a mechanism to coordinate deploying these volunteers out-of-state.

             “We know from experience that both manmade and natural disasters will tax public health and medical resources at all levels, and having surge capacity in place is critical,” he says. “Through the Global Secure platform, we now can select volunteers by zip code, by skills and by their deployment preferences, to quickly supplement existing emergency response resources at the local level. Our response is faster and better targeted to the precise situation created by the disaster.”

            In its first two months, nearly 500 volunteers have registered in one of the volunteer system’s nine groups. Volunteers may become part of the system’s groups for Administration and Logistics Personnel; Medical Reserve Corps; Dentists; Allied Health Professionals (including pharmacists); Physicians; Nurses; Veterinarians; Pre-Hospital Professionals, such as EMTs and EMS; and Mental Health and Mid-Level Providers.

            Having a large and diverse pool of potential volunteers is critical to the Public Health and Medical Volunteer System’s success, and state public health officials are actively seeking individuals to add to the registry. “While all types of volunteers are needed, we currently are working to recruit and train physicians, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, EMT/paramedics and veterinarians, in particular,” said Moreland, who notes the department’s goal is to grow the registry to 4,000-5,000 volunteers.

            Interested volunteers may register online at https://covolunteers.state.co.us. Volunteers indicate skills and certification, languages spoken, zip code, availability and deployment preferences. Once their credentials are verified, volunteers will receive updates on training and other news based on the preferences they set.

            “Having different groups gives us the versatility to respond to different types of situations, with the skills needed for each unique situation,” said Moreland. The Global Secure platform allows Colorado’s state and local public health officials to send alerts by phone or email.  The system’s first priority is to improve Colorado’s emergency response capabilities by creating a reserve of qualified, screened medical volunteers ready to assist when disasters strike. “Our volunteer system gives Colorado the best chance to respond efficiently and quickly to any public health emergency. It gives us confidence in using volunteers because we know who they are and have verified their credentials. That peace of mind during emergencies will improve our ability to respond,” says Moreland.

            In addition, Moreland anticipates the volunteer system will become a resource to support local, planned events requiring medically trained personnel, such as health fairs or outdoor events.

            “Our vision is to use the Public Health and Medical Volunteer System to support the community and to address our emergency surge capacity needs,” he said. “In the future, our goal is to have a solid foundation that grows to all types of volunteers in Colorado – not just health and medical, but search and rescue teams, law enforcement and more.”

            For more information on the Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System, visit www.coloradodmat.com.

About Global Secure Systems

Global Secure Systems provides emergency planning, response and recovery solutions. Our expertise in information and communication technology and services is currently deployed in states with a combined population of over 100 million people. Our products offer true role-based, multimedia alerting and rich document management capabilities for crisis preparedness and response, monitoring and managing volunteers and hospital capacity management. We also offer the training and exercises required for an effective response. Global Secure works for one result – to secure the homeland with integrated products and services for the critical incident response community worldwide.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Mission and Vision Statements

Mission Statement:
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is committed to protecting and preserving the health and environment of the people of Colorado.

Vision Statement:
Working together to make Colorado the healthiest place to live.
Our role is to serve the people of Colorado by providing high-quality, cost-effective public health and environmental protection services. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment focuses on evidence-based best practices in the public health and environmental fields and plays a critical role in providing education to our citizens so they can make informed choices. In addition to maintaining and enhancing our core programs, we continue to identify and respond to emerging issues that could affect Colorado’s public and environmental health.