Role Of Volunteers In Disasters And How Important It Is For Them To Be Trained
After any natural mishap people especially exuberant youth start to contact their nearby or trusted organizations to offer their services as volunteers to help the affected people and lessen their pains. Some even reach the affected areas without even registering with an NGO or any other organization.
Spontaneous volunteering can be bad:-
What these enthusiastic people need to understand is that spontaneous volunteers who don’t have proper training and who aren’t affiliated with any group can turn out to be problematic instead of problem solvers.
Noble cause in the times of need:-
Volunteering is a very noble cause and it takes guts to be a volunteer in any disastrous situation where these people have to physically rescue the people, clear the debris of the area, find the dead or alive under the buildings or any area of the calamity hit place, collecting donations from all over the country and well off people, distribution and organizing core relief items, donating money and other important necessities.
Blood collection and providing first aid:-
Volunteers also take part in blood donation, organizing blood banks and collecting blood. Trained volunteers also act as psychological support to those people who have lost their houses, families, loved ones and land etc. They also give first aid to those who are injured and can’t be accessed to the hospitals and evacuate people stuck in troublesome areas.
Assistance to authorities:-
Volunteers also lend their helping hand to the authorities and aiding agencies in the systematic distribution of relief goods. They conduct researches from the affected people and prepare questionnaires of what people are expecting and what is to be provided at the earliest. They manage and make sure the supply chain works effectively.
Setting up of community and medical centers:-
Volunteers also help the authorities in setting relief goods distribution centers, water distribution points and sewage systems. Schools, medical centers, dispensaries, and setting up of shelter camps are all assisted by the volunteers. The government or the authorities may not have the resources to set up all the convenience centers for the public so it’s the volunteers that are affiliated with NGOs or other organizations who help the local public in setting all these community centers for their welfare.
Volunteering is a difficult task:-
Always remember volunteering is not an easy job at all. It takes guts, courage and resilience to survive hard times for days and months. In any disaster struck area volunteers may not get to live indoors and in comfortable rooms like their houses. Every volunteer must be ready to work at least 16 to 18 hours daily. They must be mentally prepared to live in strict and limited resources areas that might not have bathrooms; fans in summer, electricity may not be available, no mobile signals, they may have to sleep under the open sky in the initial days of the disaster,
Trained volunteers:-
Volunteers must also be trained which helps them in any man-made disasters like riots, any disease spread out, sectarian conflicts or war. Let’s suppose you are an untrained volunteer and a situation like riots, war or attack of armed forces happens or you end up being ill and unable to move yourself. Untrained and unaffiliated volunteers tend to use resources like medical supplies and core relief items instead of delivering to the affected people. This results in the taking of precious resources from the affected people who need them dearly in these times of crisis and need.
