Feds See Little Need for Healthcare Volunteers

But the need remains great, as the following blog entry illustrates. Looks like grassroots efforts are the way to go for healthcare workers who still want to help.
From: HHS.KATRINA [at] OSOPHS.DHHS.GOV
Subject: Message from the Surgeon General
Date: September 20, 2005 3:20:13 PM PDT
To: KATRINA-APPLICANTS [at] LIST.NIH.GOV

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for offering your service to assist those injured or displaced by Hurricane Katrina. This unprecedented natural disaster sparked a remarkable outpouring of generosity from the American people. Your willingness to assist in delivering healthcare, mental health, clinical, and other services to the affected region demonstrates the remarkable neighbor-helping-neighbor, compassionate spirit that makes the United States a leader in humanitarian relief, whether in our homeland or abroad.

Immediately after the storm, we felt a common and genuine sense of urgency. The Department of Health and Human Services deployed over 1,200 members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, our largest single deployment since the Korean War. We also issued a call for volunteers to help with the massive medical and human services relief effort. More than 34,000 Americans responded to assist in this disaster relief effort.

Our response to the storm has changed as the needs of those affected have changed. Local communities throughout the United States are supporting evacuees. Those communities, their state governments, and the private sector are now better able to address the needs of those affected. The requests for assistance are declining in number and urgency, though we expect a continuing need in some communities. Health professionals currently providing services will need relief and respite and the number of persons cared for may increase or decrease depending on the ongoing situations.

We have deployed more than 150 "unpaid, temporary federal employees" at the request of state and local health departments; and, we will deploy more. But, at this stage of the response, we believe that the extremely high demand for volunteers which we originally anticipated will not occur. While we will certainly call on a number of you to help in the response, we believe those numbers will now be in the hundreds rather than the thousands.

We appreciate your patience as the needs and subsequent response have changed each day. We will contact individuals with the skills that meet the specific requests from the affected communities and that fit within our deliberate and evolving deployment strategy. If we identify you as a likely candidate for deployment, we recognize that your responsibilities at home may preclude you from serving. If that is the case, we will understand and move forward to identify other applicants.

Again, thank you for your dedication and willingness to serve the American people in this time of tragedy and rebuilding.

Gratefully,

Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S.
VADM, USPHS
United States Surgeon General

http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/5476.php
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/
http://www.barhc.org/