Message from ESAR-VHP on the situation in Haiti

The ASPR Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) Program continues to monitor the situation in Haiti, and we remain in close communication with our colleagues within the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the Haitian earthquake response efforts. We are also in close contact with CDR Narayan Nair, Deployment Operations Senior Program Officer in the Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps.

Over the weekend, we had a series of meetings. There is not a request for ESAR-VHP volunteers at this time. However, there is still a potential for deployment of civilian medical volunteers, particularly those with the following medical specializations:

• trauma surgeons (adult and pediatric)
• orthopedic surgeons (adult and pediatric)
• pediatric critical care transport
• pediatric intensivists
• pediatric respiratory therapists

Please be aware this is only a potential for deployment. Very little definitive information is available regarding the exact nature of a federal deployment, but we will let you know once it is available. As you are aware in disasters of this size and scope, information about the situation on the ground can change frequently and you may hear conflicting messages. What we have been told at this time is that if a deployment were to occur it would be for 2 weeks in very austere conditions. Those deployed would need US passports.

We would not deploy ESAR-VHP volunteers without notifying the state emergency operations centers and the state coordinators first.

We encourage you to use this opportunity of heightened interest in service to highlight your state programs. There is no better time to prepare for a possible disaster than now. You may also receive an influx of phone calls and emails from people wanting to make a difference in Haiti. Remind these people of the good they can do at home, as well, and have them register with your state programs.

We will continue to provide regular updates as information becomes available.

Pease do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Thank you,
Jennifer

Jennifer Hannah
Team Leader, ESAR-VHP
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services