@article {bnh-2562, title = {Centralised coordination of spontaneous emergency volunteers: the EV CREW model}, journal = {Australian Journal of Emergency Management}, volume = {31}, year = {2016}, month = {02/2016}, abstract = {
This paper presents a case study of Emergency Volunteering {\DH} Community Response to Extreme Weather (EV CREW). EV CREW is a best-practice model for centrally coordinating spontaneous volunteers who respond during emergencies. The model was developed by Volunteering Queensland, a not-for-profit organisation and the peak volunteering body in Queensland. The case study outlines the EV CREW model, with particular attention on intended outcomes for community resilience and emergency management. It presents spontaneous volunteering as an empowering and legitimate component of recovery and resilience and, when coordinated appropriately, it adds value to recovery, is rewarding for volunteers, and reduces associated risks for volunteers, recipient organisations and communities. It also emphasises that central coordination does not replace traditional emergency management volunteering nor informal helping behaviour and emergent volunteerism. Instead, models like EV CREW extend existing emergency management arrangements to increase the variety of ways available for people to contribute to emergency management and disaster recovery.
}, url = {https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-31-01-07}, author = {Julie Molloy and J Whittaker and John Handmer} } @conference {bnh-2942, title = {Harnessing the capacities of spontaneous volunteers: application and adaptation of the Queensland model}, booktitle = {AFAC16}, year = {2016}, month = {08/2016}, publisher = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, organization = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Brisbane}, abstract = {

Spontaneous volunteers are defined in Australia as: {\textquoteleft}those who seek to contribute on impulse{\textemdash}people who offer assistance following a disaster and who are not previously affiliated with recognised volunteer agencies and may or may not have relevant training, skills or experience{\textquoteright} (Australian Red Cross 2010; Cottrell 2010). Spontaneous volunteering by unaffiliated members of the public following a disaster event is certainly not a new occurrence (Whittaker et al. 2015). Known in the sociological disaster literature as convergence, it is recognised as an inevitable and normal response to {\textemdash} particularly large-scale {\textemdash} disasters (Drabek and McEntire 2003; Sharon 2004). A related term that is not commonly used in Australian emergency management is {\textquoteleft}emergent volunteerism{\textquoteright}. This {\textquoteleft}involves new forms of volunteering that occur in response to unmet needs, whether perceived or real{\textquoteright} (Whittaker et al., 2015, p.363).


Spontaneous volunteering has gradually gained in profile and legitimacy in Australia disaster management over the five to ten years (Australian Red Cross 2010). This process has sped up due to the combination of a number of high-profile volunteering efforts such as the Brisbane Mud Army, and the shift toward a resilience-based approach to disaster management (COAG 2011). Most recently, a National Spontaneous Volunteer Strategy was endorsed by the Australia{\textendash}New Zealand Emergency Committee in late 2015 that provides guidance to emergency management organisations.


From a management and policy perspective, until recently spontaneous volunteering has largely been portrayed as an unpredictable and uncontrollable nuisance and risk rather than as a legitimate part of response and recovery (Helsloot and Ruitenberg 2004; Scanlon et al. 2014). Certainly, having unexperienced and uninformed members of the public converge on a disaster site presents many real and difficult to manage health, safety and wellbeing risks for volunteers, residents and trained responders alike (Whittaker et al., 2015). It can also disrupt the formal response effort and divert resources away from the people and communities that are directly impacted (Fernandez et al. 2006).

}, author = {Julie Molloy and J Whittaker and John Handmer} }