UCC Files



Can Disaster Recovery Volunteers be Deployed Safely in the COVID-19 Pandemic?The need might be “muck and gut” immediately following flooding, cleanup after a tornado or hurricane, feeding of volunteers and/or people displaced by disaster, or repairing or rebuilding homes to complete disaster survivors’ recovery.Safety is always of concern in disaster recovery. But in an age of COVID-19, safety is all the more important - for volunteers, site managers, homeowners, contractors, delivery staff and all others who come to the volunteer site and/or interact with all those involved.UCC Disaster Ministries and disaster-affected UCC conferences support several long-term recovery sites that in the COVID-19 shutdown suspended operations and cancelled volunteer work teams. These include hurricane and flood recovery sites in Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania. Now, as states start to “reopen,” volunteer managers are seeking guidance on how to resume deploying volunteers in disaster recovery. We offer the following in an effort to provide guidance and help sites think through what they can safely do.Among givens:All must adhere to guidelines for the phase of reopening where the site is located.All must adhere to guidelines for temperature checks, social distancing, handwashing, face masks and other individual and communal practices for stopping/controlling the spread of COVID-19.All must consult and respect guidelines from reliable sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization, and state and county health officials. If guidelines differ, apply the most restrictive ones.Sites must document that volunteers, volunteer managers, homeowners, contractors and others can get to, work at, be housed (if relevant) and get home safely from the work site.Details follow.Key Questions for Sites to Ask When Preparing a Volunteer Safety PlanGeneralWhat are the priorities and goals of our work now? Have they changed since the shutdown of work in March?Do we have the resources (materials, expertise, people) to operate safely?Volunteer SafetyWho will provide input to the volunteer safety plan and who will decide the final plan?What is the primary goal of the employee and volunteer safety plan? What does “safe” mean for you and your volunteers? Will your plan follow the recommendations or requirements of any publically available best practices? If yes, name your sources. How and when will your plan be communicated? To whom will your plan be communicated? What training will you offer to volunteers (best practices encourage discussion, not just having people read the plan)? Have strategies for communicating to employees, contractors, and others who come on site – and to the public. Check state requirements.How long will the plan be in effect? How often might it be reviewed and/or revised? And by whom?Write the municate any adjustments in the plan.In situations where space is shared with other organizations, communicate with the other organization(s), establish a joint plan if possible, and determine which organization will be responsible for each part of the plan. See “Legal/Insurance Considerations: Insurance Board: COVID-19 Liability FAQ”Practical Site Safety ConsiderationsSocial distancing (maintaining physical distance between persons). This may include a need to change work/meal/rest site set-ups, install barriers, and change equipment locations in high traffic areas. This may also require closing or restricting common areas.Social distancing may also require rethinking transportation between work and rest sites, such as adding more vehicles so passengers are not crowded. What about food and beverages? Will volunteers be asked to bring their own lunch? What about drinking water? Will refrigeration be available? If any meals will be provided, consider ordering “grab and go” meals from local restaurants struggling to get back on their feet. Avoid sharing of serving utensils.Deep cleaning – does the facility need a deep cleaning? How often? And when? As an example, this might be considered important if a person or people have been in the facility who were (or may have been) COVID-19 positive at the time. Environmental surface cleaning – how, how often and by whom – of common-use equipment including hammers, screwdrivers, saws, staple guns, paintbrushes and rollers, paint cans, etc., and such frequently touched surfaces as door handles, restrooms, counter tops, tables, cabinets or kitchens, including the coffee pot, refrigerator and/or microwave oven. What cleaning does your state require?Tool surface cleaning - what cleaning will happen and how often to clean hand and power tools that may be touched by people on site. What are the proper ways to sanitize tools and equipment? What sanitizing solutions are good to use? What should be avoided to prevent damage to hand tools? (See Stanley Black & Decker/DeWalt: )Equipment, supplies, and signage for personal protective measures – consider if you will add hand washing or sanitization stations at the site. Will you provide masks and where will they be kept or distributed? What signage do you need and where will it be placed?Fans, blowers, and other air moving equipment – will directional air movement create a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 virus droplet spread to volunteers?How to dispose of soiled cleaning supplies or personal protective supplies. Re-start of dormant facility systems – this can be particularly important for water systems and to reduce the possibility of Legionnaires disease, which can occur with a dormant water system. (See UCC Indiana-Kentucky Conference Guidelines)Infrequent presence - If your facility will not be open routinely, we suggest you address how the facility will be maintained and by whom while it is not open routinely. We also suggest you address how the facility will be re-opened along with the sanitation and maintenance required for a re-start. Address what you will do if an employee or volunteer begins to feel ill while at work – under what circumstances should they leave immediately? Whom should they inform? If they are showing indications of acute illness, address how will you get them care and mitigate risk for other people in the facility, who may have already had contact with the employee or volunteer or will be using an area or equipment that person had been using.Address expectations for volunteers to communicate if they test positive for COVID-19 and how the site will respond to that diagnosis for both the individual and any other people that have been in contact with the individual.Address expectations for employees that have had contact with someone, whether at the site or elsewhere, with regard to staying home, isolating, returning home, etc.Given the nature of this virus and the high percentage of asymptomatic infected individuals, there is a very real possibility that one or more of your volunteers might contract or come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. Your plan needs to take this into consideration. If someone who was sick with COVID-19 and has recovered wants to come on site, check your state law – some require people stay home until they are free of fever without the use of medication for at least 72 hours and symptoms have improved for at least 72 hours, and at least seven days have passed since symptoms first began.Some Helpful Site Adjustments May Include:Restructure your volunteer needs.?Provide opportunities for volunteers to work individually or in small groups.?Take advantage of the internet.?Instead of holding volunteer training sessions in person, ask volunteers to join you via an online conferencing service like Skype or Google Hangouts. Upload documents online so that volunteers can access training and onboarding materials easily.?Reinvent the drive-through. Consider organizing a drive-through station for supply donations and distribution to limit person-to-person contact.?Stagger volunteer shifts, and keep the maximum number of participants between 3 and 5 per shift. This will minimize the number of volunteers congregating in a single location at one time.?Allow small groups of friends. Invite volunteers to create small teams with people (like friends and family) they trust to carry out volunteer activities that require more than one volunteer.?Remember that just like your service recipients, volunteers will look to your program for stability and positivity when events seem unpredictable. You?can?reassure your volunteers and maintain morale by keeping lines of communication open, acknowledging concerns, and practicing recommended health and safety measures. Together, we all can overcome adversity and make our communities happier and healthier.?Volunteers and Others Who Come to the Site Have Responsibilities, TooHealth assessment prior to coming in to work – consider what you want employees and volunteers to do prior to coming in to the work site on any given day. This may include an assessment of how they feel. Do they have a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or any other symptom of COVID-19? If they do have symptoms, set an expectation for communication and staying home and for how long. Determine expectations for seeking diagnosis (including possible COVID-19 testing). Social distancing (maintaining physical distance between persons) – what is the expectation of the volunteer? What are they expected to do in high traffic or commonly used areas? Group size limits – define what limits will be placed on the size of any group of volunteers in any of the relevant spaces where they might work or gather. Personal hygiene – consider expectations regarding facial coverings, hand washing or sanitization, cough and sneeze etiquette, disposal of soiled facial coverings, tissues, or wipes. Again, reference what your state mon use materials and equipment – consider the role of volunteers in how to reduce having common use materials such as hammers, staple guns, screwdrivers, saws, paint brushes and rollers, etc. and/or how to frequently sanitize.Procurement of supplies – this should be limited to only what is necessary for the work.Personal travel – address expectations for personal travel of volunteers, including auto and air travel from home to the volunteer site. Will a period of isolation be required or recommended when the volunteer arrives at the site, and upon return home? Many volunteer sites are leaning toward only using volunteers who can safely drive from home to the volunteer site and return home the same day. If volunteers are able to drive in and out daily, are they coming from a county under the same guidelines (according to that county’s stage of reopening)? Do they transit through a county under different guidelines and, if so, can they transit without stopping?Will the site set an age limit for volunteers, given that older people and/or those with certain chronic health conditions are more susceptible to severe disease if they contract COVID-19? Will the limit be 50? 60? 65? Will you screen out people with chronic lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or a weakened immune system? (See CDC website for other possibly disqualifying conditions.)Additional Considerations for VolunteersDo NOT show up to volunteer for any activity if in the last 14 days you have:Traveled to any foreign country or large metropolitan city.Been on a cruise or been in an airport.Been around anyone who has COVID-19.Been to an event where there were more than 250 people.??Do NOT show up to volunteer for any activity without confirming that there is a need for the activity, that it will be conducted, and that volunteer support is needed and expected.FOLLOW the service agency’s safety precautions before, during and after the shift.ALLOW extra time for additional screening from volunteer organizations or agencies to make sure all are cleared to volunteer for the task.EXPECT that shifts or opportunities may be cancelled. Please be gracious and understanding.DO practice universal infection control precautions. Clean and wash your hands before, during, and after volunteering.DO use proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) if needed for the task.DO maintain a minimum of a 6-10 foot separation from others while conducting the task.ASK about any risk that may be associated with the task and DO NOT take part if you are uncomfortable with the level of risk.Be patient.?Recovery lasts a lot longer than the media attention. There will be volunteer needs for many months, often years, after the disaster – especially when the community enters the long-term recovery period.The latest instructions from the CDC advise people to stay home when sick, wear a face mask, wash hands frequently with soap and water (20 seconds), use hand sanitizer (60+ percent alcohol) especially when soap and water are not available, limit close contact with others (at least 6-10 feet), avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, practice routine cleaning with soap and water of frequently touched surfaces.Sources for this document:Thank you to the Insurance Board and to UCC Conference Disaster Coordinators – especially the Indiana-Kentucky and Northeast/Southeast Pennsylvania conferences – for their contributions to this document. Other sources include:Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGalaxy Digital: Actionable Steps for Volunteer ManagersHelp Now NYCLilly Family School of Philanthropy: Volunteering During COVID-19 – Is It Safe?National VOADSouthern Baptist International Mission BoardUMCOR United Way of Lebanon County: Volunteer Guidelines During COVID-19Additional Resources:Center for Disease Control and Prevention: COVID-19 DashboardWorld Health Organization: COVID-19 Guidance and UpdatesCenter for Disaster Philanthropy: COVID-19 ReportNational Council of Nonprofits: Nonprofits and COVID-19The Chronicle of Philanthropy: How Nonprofits Respond to COVID-19FEMA: Emergency Communication Plan Template ................
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