Dean pushes new emergency volunteer initiative

Were Nashville to be hit with a catastrophic event like a bio-weapon terrorist attack or a citywide flu pandemic, a new emergency response initiative would allow volunteers to quickly gather and dispense medicine to the entire citizenry within 48 hours.

Mayor Karl Dean held a news conference Tuesday to announce the program and to call for volunteers. Dean’s office said the program, being conducted with Hands On Nashville, was the largest emergency recruitment drive ever. The plan calls for 4,000 volunteers citywide.

“We need to be prepared to respond to any time of major disaster in our city,” Dean said.

In the event of a catastrophe, the Office of Emergency Management would take the lead, along with the Health Department, on response. OEM Director Laura Hokenstad said the volunteer drive should not be misinterpreted to mean Metro is not prepared for a disaster at this time.

“You can always be more prepared,” Hokenstad said. “The impetus for this was after 9/11, the federal government said cities needed to be ready in the case of a biological weapon attack. Nashville is very prepared right now, but you can always be more prepared.”

If needed, the volunteers would meet at 17 dispensing sites throughout the city and administer the medicine or vaccines to citizens.

“We need to be ready to respond to outbreaks of infections like meningitis or hepatitis, but we also need to be ready to respond to events that we hope will never happen like a pandemic of influenza or a potential terrorist attack,” Health Department Director Dr. William Paul said.

The job of recruiting volunteers falls to local recruitment organization Hands On Nashville. Brian Williams, executive director for Hands on Nashville, said the organization would train volunteers in person, while also offering tutorials online at its Web site, www.hon.org.