Opportunities and Challenges in Emergency Management (EM) Protocols and Volunteer Engagement

The post-disaster Emergency Management (EM) protocol and volunteer management is infused with a complicated relationship, concerns of perception, and issues of integration in disaster response and rescue efforts. Upholding procedural justice in utilizing this human resource and understanding the social capital of volunteer aid can help build resilience against disasters. This research particularly explores the challenges and opportunities for volunteer integration in EM protocols during disaster ‘rescue’ efforts.

‘Volunteerism’ in the context of disaster emergency is regarded as direct and indirect service for other people and things with no self-interest. Even though the ‘emergent’ volunteers can offset several unmet needs, proliferate a sense of community, and bring in resources, they also raise issues in coordination, liability and safety, lack of training, or misconduct in protocols. Integrating volunteers into disaster rescue efforts also experiences external factors such as social media and inter agency interaction.

Therefore, by using grounded theory and performing qualitative analysis on 26 in-depth interviews with emergency managers in areas flooded by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and North Carolina, this study analyzes the challenges and opportunities faced by EM protocols in volunteer rescue efforts. The analysis also looks at the perception of volunteer groups among emergency managers – ‘Cajun Navy’ in comparison to other volunteer groups. The preliminary results indicate coordination issues, communication-breakdown, liability issues, lack of training, resource-allocation, and social-media as the main challenges impacting volunteer’s rescue efforts. The study also reveals the opportunity in early mobilization, social media and technology, resources brought by volunteers, and empathy of volunteers. Volunteers are also perceived as a resource instead of professionals, by the EMs and this poses issues in the integration of volunteers in EM protocols, however, this perception differs between organized groups such as Cajun Navy and other spontaneous volunteer groups/ individuals, as former is given professional importance.