Polk County Public Health works with local, regional, and state organizations as well as public, private, and non-profit entities to ensure the safety and security of citizens and the availability of emergency resources for all. Polk County MN Responds is a local unit whose function is to provide medical, public, and mental health support services during emergencies. MN Responds is a nationwide initiative to pre-register, manage, and mobilize volunteers in times of need explains Polk County Public Health’s Terri Oliver. “Minnesota Responds is a nationwide initiative to pre-register, manage, and mobilize volunteers, so that we have them in times of need,” said Oliver. “Each local unit is organized through a local public health agency such as Polk County Public Health. Pre-registration allows the local volunteer administrator to access the skills of registered volunteers and determine where they might fit in during an event. It also allows for those local volunteers to be called up quickly should the need occur.”
Oliver said Polk County is seeking medical and non-medical volunteers to assist in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. “We’re looking for volunteers in all walks of life that could use their skills in the event of a health emergency or natural disaster,” said Oliver. “They can be health care professionals, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, nursing assistants, veterinarians, in the behavior health field, psychologists, social service professionals, social workers, counselors, chaplains, and interpreters. They can also be support staff such as clerical workers, data entry, greeters, traffic control, or canteen workers.”
Oliver said volunteers can help their community regardless of their age, or employment status, and can also choose to volunteer nationally. “Volunteers donate their time and expertise in the area where they live making it easier for them to help their own family, neighborhood, and community,” said Oliver. “Volunteers can be practicing, retired, college students, or otherwise employed. Volunteers who register with Minnesota Responds have the option to say if they want to deploy nationally or stay local. We are looking for local volunteers.”
Minnesota Responds has been around for a long time, but Oliver said it hadn’t been heavily pushed until COVID-19 hit. “It never really has been heavily pushed,” said Oliver. “We did recruit several years ago. We’re just reawakening with COVID at hand and realizing that volunteers are needed within our community. Not for COVID, but for upcoming events. Say if a vaccine comes out, we’d possibly use volunteers for our points of dispensing to get our residents through quickly for vaccination. There could be a number of events that we would call up a volunteer for.”
The county is not only looking for new volunteers but hoping the current database of 88 volunteers will log-in to update their information said, Oliver. “If you’re willing to volunteer, please register at www.minnesotaresponds.org,” said Oliver. “If you are already a registered volunteer, please log into your account and update your information. If you need technical assistance navigating the registration process, please contact Terri at 218-521-7736. Thank you.”
