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During a natural disaster, volunteers can be a tremendous asset or a liability. Emergency management professionals can help ensure that volunteers are able to help during response and recovery by following these tips.

• Volunteer Safety Training: Have a basic volunteer safety training program in place that can quickly be given to volunteers before they are sent to on-site assignments. When possible, provide safety training prior to disaster.
• Volunteer Credentialing: Before any volunteer is allowed on the disaster site, make sure that they have been given a thorough background check, are issued a photo ID and have completed safety training.
• Volunteer Reception Center: Use a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) to create a location designated for volunteer management. Be sure to prepare ahead of time to quickly implement the VRC by identifying multiple locations for the center, assigning leadership roles and preparing key documents like sign-in and sign-out sheets and VRC setup instructions.
• Volunteer Job Descriptions: Provide volunteers with clear job descriptions for volunteer roles. This alleviates self-deployment and provides volunteers with a sense of purpose in performing duties and responsibilities set out in the job description.