Comparison of Laws that Impact Volunteer Response in Three Disaster-Prone Southeastern States

Abstract

Objective: As natural disasters become more frequent and severe, the ability of impacted states to rapidly scale up their capacity to respond and facilitate recovery through volunteers is ever more crucial. However, the legal landscape that may facilitate or hamper augmentation through volunteers has yet to be fully explored. Design: This study utilized policy surveillance methodology to code relevant laws identified in searches using the Emergency Law Inventory database and Westlaw. Setting: We assessed laws in three natural disaster-prone states: North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Main Outcome Measures: We assessed the presence of liability protection, license reciprocity, and scope of practice laws for health care volunteers. Results: Of the three assessed legal domains, liability protection for health care volunteers across all states contained the most robust language. Liability protections apply unless the health care volunteers act with reckless disregard, willful misconduct, or gross negligence. However, nuance exists based on which organizations (state vs charitable) volunteers are affiliated with to qualify for coverage. License reciprocity for out-of-state specific health care professions entering the impacted states was available across all three states. However, only Georgia enacted federal model legislation that provides additional flexibility regarding credentialing and liability protections. Lastly, very few laws addressed the scope of practice in impacted states. Conclusions: Comparisons of laws that impact the ability of health care volunteers to respond and recover from disasters are scarce. More research needs to be performed to better understand the laws that impact volunteers in emergencies, particularly as the public health system is overtasked when providing services to impacted communities.