Retired Medical Professionals Could Volunteer During Emergencies

April 6, 2011—Legislation sponsored by Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) would allow retired medical professionals to provide volunteer medical services during governor-declared emergencies without requiring licensure or certification.

“This simply allows retired medical professionals to respond in an emergency,” Johnson said. “It is one more tool we have in our toolbox in the case of a natural disaster.”

The intent of Senate Bill 563 is to help Oregon’s coastal communities prepare and respond to any damages caused by the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami that scientists predict will strike the Pacific Northwest.

“This is a critical issue for our community,” said Linda Kozlowski, a Manzanita city councilor and president of the Emergency Volunteer Corps of Nehalem Bay. “The fact is we're going to need all the help we can get during a major emergency.”

The bill passed out of the Senate’s Committee on Health Care, Human Services, and Rural Health Policy on Monday with a do-pass recommendation. It has not yet been scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor.  

Kozlowski said that there’s no hospital in north Tillamook County, and the Rinehart Clinic, in Wheeler, only has two primary care physicians. She also said the area’s geography makes it difficult to access when roads are affected by ice or snowstorms.

“We are in an area that is easily isolated,” Kozlowski said.

Tillamook County has already taken steps to prepare for a medical emergency, having started a local chapter of the Medical Reserve Corps, a national organization which engages volunteers for public health and emergency response.

Dr. Margaret Steele, a retired physician, who directs Tillamook County’s Medical Reserve Corps, said the group “is quite a bit smaller than we would like to be.”

“We’re concerned that the Rinehart Clinic …would very quickly be overwhelmed with an emergency situation,” Steele said.

The Oregon Public Health Division raised concerns during a February 14 public hearing—the only public hearing the bill has had—because its first version didn’t include provisions to make certain retired medical professionals were competent to provide care.

“There have to be some safeguards in place,” said Grant Higginson, an Oregon Public Health Division administrator said at the February hearing.

Since then, amendments have been made to bring the Public Health Division on board. The changes limit potential volunteers to medical professionals who have retired within the last 10 years.

Steele added that the Medical Reserve Corps would require the volunteers to take trainings in administering “very basic primary care.” Should the bill pass, Oregon Administration Rules will be developed to determine the frequency of trainings.

Kurt Ferre is the executive director of the Creston Dental Clinic, a dental clinic in southeast Portland providing dental care to low-income children. The clinic’s staff are volunteer dentists. He has no problem with allowing retired medical professionals to volunteer.

“A heart surgeon that has been retired for 10 years that suddenly comes back to do emergency help isn’t going to be doing heart surgery. He may be doing front-line first aid,” Ferre said. “They could save lives.”

Kat Mastrangelo, executive director of Bend’s Volunteers with Medicine, agrees. During an emergency, she said, the volunteers would primarily provide triage care and basic first aid.

“In an emergency, you’re not really looking for cutting edge” skills or knowledge of medical technology, Mastrangelo said.

There shouldn’t be a concern about the competency of volunteer physicians, she said. People who feel uncertain about their skill level are unlikely to volunteer. “The people who come forward have confidence in their skills,” she said.