- What is ESAR-VHP?
- What is Nebraska's ESAR-VHP called?
- What is the goal of this registry?
- Why should I volunteer for a public health emergency?
- Why do I receive information from the Health Professions Tracking Service?
- Are meetings or training required?
- Do volunteers need to be vaccinated?
- I am recently retired, can I still volunteer?
- Will I be asked to report to the scene of a disaster?
- How will I be notified when my volunteer services need to be activated?
- Do I notify my employer prior to volunteering my services?
- Who do I report to when I arrive at my volunteer assignment?
- How long will I be needed and when?
- Will I be compensated for my services?
- What can you tell me about my liability?
- Where can I locate additional information regarding legal preparedness issues?
- Can I decide where I want to be assigned?
- Am I obligated to respond if I register?
- Are there planning committees that I can participate?
- I would like to sign up, but how secure is my information?
- How does the Nebraska Volunteer Registry work?
- Are there varying levels of clinical competency based on my credentials?
- What are the different credential levels?
- How often is my information re-verified?
- After I register, can I update my information, if necessary?
- I received a letter from the Health Professions Tracking Service containing a PIN. Why?
- Can I register to volunteer without a PIN?
- Who do I contact if I have questions while registering?
- I do not have access to the internet. Can I still register?
- Can my organization become an active partner in managing our volunteers?
- During the credentialing process, are disciplinary actions reported to the Federation of State Medical Boards taken into consideration?
- I already registered as a volunteer for the Katrina Assistance Project through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Do I need to re-register through the Nebraska Volunteer Registry?
- What if I am notified and I am unable to help?
- What is the difference between "pandemic flu" and "bird flu"?
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Emergency System for Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). ESAR-VHP is a standardized, state-based volunteer registration system. Each system includes readily available, verifiable, up-to-date information regarding the volunteer’s identity, licensing, credentialing, accreditation, and privileging in hospitals or other medical facilities, providing the ability to quickly identify and better utilize health professional volunteers in emergencies and disasters. Ultimately, these state-based systems will enable the sharing of pre-registered and credentialed healthcare professionals across State lines and even nationally.
The ESAR-VHP Program is overseen by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) with the Office of the Secretary.
Nebraska's Volunteer Registry.
Recruit, register, and pre-credential medical volunteers to assist with surge capacity needs in advance of the next major disaster or public health emergency.
Your help is likely needed! Hospitals, health centers and other healthcare facilities may become overwhelmed during a public health emergency or a terrorist incident. An effective response to an emergency often depends on the ability to quickly identify and contact volunteer healthcare professionals who have the specific skills necessary to care for people who are injured or ill.
We anticipate that volunteer required training sessions or meetings will be scheduled once or twice a year. Volunteers will be notified well in advance of these opportunities. You'll become informed about and oriented to emergency procedures, trauma response techniques, use of specialized equipment and other information that increases your effectiveness as a member of the team.
No prior vaccinations are required for volunteers. However, in the event of pandemic flu, smallpox outbreak, or other public health emergency involving a vaccine-preventable infectious agent, all staff, including volunteers, will be vaccinated prior to being deployed to assist the public if a vaccine is available.
Yes. You would be extremely helpful assisting clinicians and providing basic healthcare not controlled by the scope of practice laws.
No. The primary mission of ESAR-VHP surge volunteers is to assist with the large numbers of casualties that are expected to converge on local hospitals, health clinics and other medical facilities following a large scale disaster. Every attempt will be made to match your skills with your responsibilities. On occasion, you may be asked to assist with activities that are less challenging than your usual professional activities. You will not be asked to accept responsibilities for an activity or assignment that is outside your scope of practice as defined by your license/registration/certification.
You may be notified via email, fax or telephone by officials at NeDHHS or your local MRS/MRC and through the media such as public broadcast announcements via radio or television.
Yes. Your duty is to your employer first. It is understood that as an employee, you must attend to the needs of your organization first. The conditions under which an employee will be released to volunteer in an emergency remain between the employer and the employee
You will be given information on where you are to report at the time of your assignment. When you arrive on scene at the hospital or alternate care site you will be asked to check in at the volunteer reception area. Although you have been “pre-credentialed” prior to your assignment, it is up to the hospital, clinic, or the site where you are being assigned to “privilege” you and decide exactly what you will be doing, where you will be assigned, and who you will report to. It is important for volunteers to be as flexible as possible about their assignment.
At the time we contact you, we will ask if you are available to volunteer for a minimum of one shift and how long you will be available to volunteer. Some volunteers will find that they are not available to volunteer immediately following a crisis, but can volunteer in the days or weeks following the acute phase. This is acceptable because many disasters require a response that may last for an extended period of time.
No. You will be volunteering to help in a time of extreme need.
Learn more about legal preparedness issues:
Assignments will be given on per need basis and will depend on your background and expertise. We will do our best to ensure that the role you are assigned will make the best use of your abilities and your area of expertise, but again, we ask that volunteers be flexible.
Registration does not obligate an individual to respond, but allows them to be contacted for availability during a local, state or national emergency.
Yes. Currently, there are three planning committees that meet throughout the year: 1) volunteer database sharing and integration; 2) recruitment and retention; and 3) verification and credentialing. If you are interested in participating, please contact Marlene Deras at (402) 559-2901 or (888) 662-4782.
The information we collect as a part of the volunteer registration and credentialing is stored on a highly secured system and will only be accessible to official representatives.
The dynamic registry allows authorities, through a secured format, to quickly identify healthcare professionals by many combinations of variables that are adaptable to best meet the needs of a situation. Your skills will be put to best use in a coordinated manner.
- Level 2: Ensures the availability of highly qualified individuals who may deliver services in a wide variety of settings such as clinics, nursing homes, and shelters. Typically, these health professionals possess all the credentials and qualifications of a level one health professional except that they are not employed in a hospital or have hospital privileges. Assignment to Level 2 requires confirmation that the volunteer is clinically active in any setting other than a hospital (e.g., clinic, private practice, nursing home, etc.). Implicit in this requirement is the ability to practice in a full and unrestricted manner within the State and meets other occupational specific qualifications.
- Level 3: Classifies individuals who meet the basic qualifications necessary to practice in the State in which they are registered. Assignment to Level 3 usually requires verification of a volunteer’s license or sometimes certification. In situations where the State does not govern a profession, ASPR has identified requirements that are deemed to be usual and customary for employment in the profession, which must also be verified.
- Level 4: Classifies individuals who have healthcare experience or education in an area that would be useful in providing basic healthcare not controlled by scope of practice laws and to assist clinicians. Assignment to Level 4 requires that the volunteer possess verified documentation of healthcare education or experience. This level may include, but is not limited to, healthcare students or retired healthcare professionals who no longer hold a license.
Yes. The registry offers secured web-based registration where professionals can confirm and update their profile, and provide preferred deployment information. We welcome you to assist us in ensuring that your information is correct. Periodically, we will test contact information to ensure that it is current.
This PIN is a unique number assigned to you in an effort to ease the registration process. Volunteer information currently maintained by the HPTS has been transferred into Nebraska’s Volunteer Registry in an effort to facilitate the registration process.
Yes. Please enter your last name, birth date and last four digits of your SSN in the required fields.
Yes. We welcome the opportunity to work with partners to coordinate a unified statewide venture. Please contact Marlene Deras at (402) 559-2901 or (888) 662-4782.
Yes. Information on disciplinary actions taken against physicians in the past and those that will be taken at any time in the future that are reported to the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. (FSMB) is utilized during the credentialing process. FSMB is considered “primary source equivalent” by the Joint Commission and NCQA for sanctions against a physician’s license.
Yes. In an effort to promote a consistent, non duplicative disaster behavioral health response capacity, SAMHSA has elected to refer existing KAP responders to the Nebraska Volunteer Registry, rather than maintain a separate responder database.
Registration does not obligate an individual to respond, but allows them to be contacted during a local, state or national emergency. You always retain the right to decline for any reason.
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