Integrating Disaster Volunteers: An Emergency Manager's Perspective

History has proven disasters are increasing in intensity and frequency throughout the world, causing public safety organizations to become more involved in disaster management. The purpose of my study was to provide the emergency and volunteer management practitioners, academia and the research community with a study from the perspective of an emergency manager on recruiting, training, and integrating volunteers for a disaster. Research has shown when disaster volunteers are not properly recruited, trained, and integrated into disaster planning they can negatively impact efforts to save lives and protect property. This book is likely the first study to examine county emergency managers’ perspectives of recruiting, training, and integrating volunteers for a disaster to save lives and protect property. This study used POSDCORB as the theoretical framework and the concepts of disaster management and volunteer management to answer the principal research question, “How do county emergency managers recruit, train, and integrate volunteers for a disaster?”