BEAUMONT, Texas — The American Red Cross is in need of volunteers to help support communities as this year’s hurricane season may look differently due to added COVID-19 precautions that will need to be taken.
Deployment of trained disaster volunteers will be a challenge due to the coronavirus pandemic. The American Red Cross is in need of 700 volunteers in the Texas Gulf Coast area.
The non-profit humanitarian organization is offering training to those who would like to give back through different avenues such as shelter support, pet sheltering and health services. There are both associate and supervisory level opportunities available.
The Red Cross is looking to work with established organizations to support pet sheltering as people often take their pets with them during an emergency.
The Red Cross is planning to place those in need at emergency hotels, campsites or dormitories when possible. The backup plan, if necessary, would be to place those in need in traditional shelters. To help keep people safe, the non-profit has put in place additional precautions and developed special training for their workforce.
Volunteer duties at the shelter would consist of shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and among other vital tasks to help those in need of service.
Volunteers are also needed in shelters to help asses people's health.The Red Cross needs the support of volunteers who can provide care as delegated by a licensed nurse, such as but not limited to an RN, LPN, LVN, APRN, NP, EMT, paramedic, MD/DO or PA with an active, current and unencumbered license. Other roles available are Certified Nursing Assistants, Certified Home Health Aides, student nurses and medical students.
For those interested in volunteering should a disaster occur, visit Redcross.org/volunteertoday.
