Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers
The Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Rhode Island (SERV-RI), is an online registry created to identify and pre-credential healthcare providers who are licensed in Rhode Island prior to a large-scale disaster or public health emergency. SERV-RI volunteers could be called upon in the instance of a public health or disaster emergency to assist with surge capacity issues and be available to the public health and emergency management agencies of Rhode Island to supplement existing volunteer response organizations like RIDMAT/MRC among others.
When you register with SERV-RI, you join fellow Rhode Islanders interested in becoming involved when help is needed most.
About SERV-RI
Experience has shown that, in an emergency, many of our nation’s health and medical providers are eager and willing to volunteer their professional health services. To meet the extraordinary demands of a large-scale emergency, hospitals and others will depend upon the services that health volunteers can provide. However, in a time of emergency, utilizing the capabilities of the nation’s health volunteers presents a major challenge to hospital, public health and emergency authorities.
The Emergency System for the Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) program is a state-based approach to establishing a national system. Every state independently develops, maintains, operates and commands an ESAR-VHP system. In Rhode Island our program is called Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Rhode Island (SERV-RI).
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SERV-RI VOLUNTEER CREDENTIALS ARE VERIFIED ON A REGULAR BASIS, HOWEVER, SERV-RI VOLUNTEERS ARE ONLY CALLED UPON IN THE INSTANCE OF A PUBLIC HEALTH OR DISASTER EMERGENCY TO SUPPLEMENT EXISTING VOLUNTEER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THEIR RESPONSE.
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The RI Responds system, adhering to the ESAR-VHP guidelines, acts to identify volunteer healthcare providers who are licensed in Rhode Island in advance of a large-scale disaster or public health emergency.
Jurisdiction
SERV-RI, if activated to supplement response organizations, will work to serve all communities within Rhode Island. SERV-RI is a State asset deployable to any community in Rhode Island.
Objective
To provide registered and pre-credentialed medical health professional volunteers to supplement existing systems in the instance of a public health or emergency response.
Mission
To maintain an online registration and management system capable of verifying healthcare professional licensure in advance of a public health emergency or disaster.