Disaster Healthcare Volunteers- Community Members

California Medical Volunteers/Disaster Healthcare Volunteers (DHV) is California’s initiative to pre-register, manage, and mobilize healthcare professional volunteers to help in responding to all types of disasters.  The system is part of a nation-wide effort to make sure that volunteer professionals can be quickly identified and their credentials checked so that they can be properly utilized in response to disaster.

The system is currently enrolling over 35 licensed medical professions.  Anyone with a valid, unencumbered California license can register.

By registering to become a Disaster Healthcare Volunteer, you will be able to help your family, your friends and your community effectively and efficiently!  You will be provided opportunities to learn more about how to be best prepared in the event of an emergency and, offered traingns such as CPR, First Aid, Psychological First Aid and more.  As a Disaster Healthcare Volunteer, you will also be well informed in terms of what to expect should disaster strike.

Registering is as simple as logging on to this web site and entering the information requested.  When you log on to https://www.healthcarevolunteers.ca.gov , select “Register Now.”  You should have information about your license and contact information available in order to complete the registration process.  You may start and stop the registration process at any time.  Simply login to the system using the username and password you have created to complete anything you have not finished. 

Yes.  As long as you have an active, unencumbered license, you are eligible to volunteer.  So, if you have a professional license, whether you are currently working, retired, or not currently employed, you are eligible to volunteer and register with Disaster Healthcare Volunteers.

You may certainly volunteer in other ways.  And, the system will ask you about prior commitments that you might have so that this information is understood at the time of deployment.  Prior commitments will be considered when deployment decisions are being made.

No.  The system is open to any licensed medical personnel.  And, there will be no requirement for any specific post-enrollment training.  When a volunteer is being deployed, operational area commanders or clinical managers in receiving institutions will try to make assignments based on the evidence of competence and/or experience that is in the system.

All volunteers are encouraged to seek training opportunities that will make them more effective if deployed to an emergency.  The system plans to develop a wide array of training opportunities.  As opportunities are created, enrollees will be notified and those opportunities will be posted on this site.  In addition to training opportunities provided by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, the Monterey County Health Department Public Health Preparedness Program also provides localized preparedness trainings, please refer to the Event Listing on the front page of the Monterey County Health Department website.

Assignments will be made by local operational area commanders and the clinical managers in receiving facilities.  In making those assignments, licensure, training, experience, competencies, and certifications will all be considered.  You can expect that you will be asked to perform tasks that are consistent with your level of licensure.

When you register you will enter information on the best way to contact you.  If a deployment is requested, this is the information that the system will use to contact you.  Therefore, please be sure that the information you give is accurate and up-to-date.  Any time you have any change in that information, please log on and update the information.