Volunteer Recruitment and Retention
Previous emergencies have demonstrated that many people have a strong desire to provide assistance during disasters. Limited or delayed access to credentialing information can prevent volunteers from being able to do so. Whether you are a licensed health care provider or a person otherwise willing to volunteer your time and service to help in health and medical response, advance registration in WV REDI can help ensure that you will be identified, cleared, and able to quickly assist.
The West Virginia Responder Emergency Deployment Information (WV REDI) system is a web-based system created to facilitate health and medical response through identification, credentialing and deployment of West Virginians willing to serve in an emergency. The WV REDI system is linked to professional licensing boards enabling rapid confirmation of valid state licenses to practice medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and other health professions.
Registration is open to West Virginia’s health and medical professionals, as well as others who are willing to help during a health-related emergency or event.
“We could not do this without these volunteers,” says Dr. Terrence Reidy, Health Officer at the Jefferson County Health Department. This sentiment is echoed by everyone else working with the Jefferson County Health Department to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Ranson Civic Center. “The Mayor and the city staff, the police from around the County, the National Guard, all of these government organizations have pitched in,” said Gillian Beach, Acting Administrator of the Health Department. But she noted it has been the involvement of private organizations and individual volunteers that enabled the Health Department to scale up to provide hundreds of vaccines each day.