Hurricane Katrina relief:
What you need to know to volunteer

Since Hurricane Katrina struck on Sept. 1, UNMC departments have received numerous inquiries for information on how faculty and staff may volunteer help, housing or funds for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

There has been a number of activities and communications concerning financial donations and housing. It is important that volunteer efforts be coordinated through the appropriate disaster relief agencies to avoid complicating the logistical challenges involved. As a result, UNMC will not initiate an independent volunteer relief effort.

If you are interested in volunteering your time to go to the Gulf coast region, the following guidelines apply:

1. As is the case with any absence, you must have your supervisor’s permission for the absence. This is necessary to assure that staffing needs at UNMC continue to be met.

2. Individuals should register through the Department of Health and Human Services at https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov/ in order to be eligible to be called for volunteer service with a number of federal disaster relief agencies through the coordinated federal disaster response. This Web site lists the types of volunteer assistance and expertise that is needed.
   
   Registration also is necessary in order to be eligible for liability coverage under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Such registration also makes you eligible for Workers' Compensation, since you will be functioning as an unpaid federal employee. Although no salary may be offered (except as noted below), travel and per diem expenses may be offered by the appropriate disaster relief agency.
   
   You will not have liability coverage through UNMC if you, as an individual, decide to volunteer outside the federal registration process and provide services outside that system.

3. Based on a policy statement issued Sept. 8 by NU’s Central Administration, if an employee receives a request for volunteer assistance from a federal agency (such as FEMA or HHS), or other recognized disaster relief organization (such as the American Red Cross or Salvation Army), the employee may be granted, upon the approval of their supervisor, up to five days paid civil leave to provide assistance. The policy provides that the five-day limit may be extended upon the approval of the Chancellor or designee; however, such extensions are anticipated to be extremely rare.
   
   When the civil leave is exhausted, employees may use accumulated vacation leave or leave without pay. Individuals will not have liability or workers' compensation protection, and will not be eligible for travel expenses and per diem unless the request for volunteer service occurs through the federal registration process noted earlier.

4. Faculty or staff who volunteer services other than as described above will be required to request and use personal vacation leave and will not have liability or workers' compensation insurance coverage.

5. In order to assume as much consistency as possible, Human Resources should be notified of all absences and leave associated with Hurricane Katrina relief.

Additional information on relief efforts
If you wish to volunteer your medical expertise in Omaha through the Medical Reserve Corps (coordinated by United Way), call 402-522-7970.

If you wish to volunteer for deployment to Mississippi, Louisiana, or Alabama, apply through the Office of the Surgeon General at https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov/.

If you wish to volunteer housing to victims of the hurricane you may contact any of the following:

• Open Door Mission at 402-422-1111

• David Crouse, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate dean for graduate studies at UNMC, at 559-6094.

Additional information and resources regarding specific medical relief efforts can be found at http://www.hospitalreliefefforts.org/hospitalreliefefforts/resources.html.

Campus donates to relief effort

Representatives of the American Red Cross recently collected $2,883 on the UNMC campus for Hurricane Katrina relief. The Red Cross was stationed outside the Nebraska Café on Wednesday to give employees an opportunity to make a donation. All of the money collected will go to the disaster area. Faculty, staff and students who would still like to give to the Red Cross can make a donation online at http://www.redcross.org/.