Katie Greenwood
Coordinator Operations - Emergency Services

What have you discovered in your research on Spontaneous Volunteering in disasters and how has it affected Red Cross?

Spontaneous Volunteers (or people who converge on the scene of a disaster ready to volunteer without any previous affiliation to an organisation) can have a very positive impact on community recovery from disasters. 

Organisations working with these volunteers recognise though that with the benefits come risks associated with utilising inexperienced and newly trained people working in unfamiliar contexts. 

Research shows that spontaneous volunteers are motivated to act for a variety of reasons that can range from very positive influences such as altruism or wanting to feel empowered rather than anxious, to less positive influences such as seeing the situation as an opportunity to exert inappropriate power over vulnerable people. 

Obviously, organisations utilising the skills and good will of volunteers need to be aware of motivations, be able to recognise them and have strategies to manage them.

Red Cross experience of managing over 400 spontaneous volunteers after Cyclone Larry coupled with research and discussions with agencies experienced in the use of spontaneous volunteers after events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, shows that there are some complex issues which volunteers, agencies they want to work with and even government, ought to consider prior to emergencies so that community members wishing to spontaneously assist in times of disaster can be safely and efficiently incorporated into response and recovery activities.

When disaster strikes, there may be many reasons why people find themselves available to spontaneously volunteer; the incident may occur during a holiday period or may affect particular industries (such as the shutdown of mining activities in the recent Emerald and Mackay floods) meaning that community members who normally may not be able to volunteer, suddenly find themselves with the time and the motivation to assist.

Organisations active in disasters like Red Cross have strategies to maximise benefits and limit barriers to spontaneous volunteering by appealing to community members to pre-register as disaster volunteers and undertake training to give them the skills they need to hit the ground running.

When it comes to the crunch though – some large scale events will always require the engagement of spontaneous volunteers and agencies should be well prepared to effectively harness their skills and energy.

As a result of this research, Red Cross is utilising best practice information to strengthen its own capacity to engage with spontaneous volunteers in large scale events. 

The organisation is also continuing discussions with other agencies working with vulnerable communities in disasters to strategise around a range of collaborative actions that can quickly facilitate spontaneous volunteering when it is required.   

How do you think that climate change & extreme weather will affect spontaneous volunteering – particularly for young people?

Climate change and its effects such as extreme weather events is obviously something young people in the community feel very passionate about.  

Our experience working with young people – particularly our emergency services volunteers – shows that this passion translates to a desire to act in times of disaster to assist vulnerable communities impacted by climate change.   

As modelling research and global experience indicates expectations for an increase in weather related disasters, it stands to reason that a desire to spontaneously volunteer during such emergencies will also increase. 

Where possible, Red Cross is engaging with young volunteers to encourage them to become involved and trained prior to these emergencies; however it is still necessary to have contingency plans for accepting spontaneous volunteers in the event of a large scale disaster outstripping the organisation’s volunteer resources and capacity to respond. 

Having recently undertaken research and pilot programs to better utilise the skills of young people as emergency services volunteers, Red Cross is pretty well placed as a youth friendly volunteer organisation but obviously – part of our continuous improvement is to listen to the experience and feedback of young people themselves and implement their suggestions where possible!  

How is Red Cross engaging with the issue of climate change?

Preparing for the effects of climate change is Red Cross disaster preparedness core business.  

Globally, the organisation has established the Red Cross/Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness in the Netherlands which seeks to reduce vulnerability associated with climate change through awareness, action, advocacy and analysis. 

The centre creates a space for humanitarians around the world to address the complex implications of new climate –related emergencies.

The expected increase of floods, droughts, intense cyclones, heat waves, sea level rise, pests and diseases will affect millions of the most vulnerable people all over the word, in particular the poorest people in the poorest countries.

Already the world is confronted with an increase in weather related disasters, further complicating the work humanitarian organisations, whose capacities to respond are already stretched.

It is therefore crucial for the Red Cross/Red Crescent to understand the changing risks and prepare for them rather than only respond to the consequences; from local communities all around the world to the International Red Cross headquarters in Geneva.

Here in Australia too, Red Cross is analysing and preparing for community risks associated with climate change in a number of ways; The organisation is engaged in discussions with Government and non-government agencies strategising around climate change and its affects on communities; Red Cross International Operations Department is engaging with the global movement on proactive strategies for climate change adaptation – particularly in the Pacific and the organisation’s drought response framework recognises the importance of reducing community vulnerability and strengthening the adaptive capacity of communities – particularly Indigenous communities to the effects of climate change.  

Foremost amongst strategies for community preparation with regard to extreme weather events is an initiative of Red Cross and First National Real Estate called “Rediplan”; a combination of national community information and education initiatives aimed at helping households and communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters more effectively. 

Additionally, Red Cross is active in communities across the country recruiting and training an expanding volunteer workforce well prepared to assist community response and recovery in times of disaster.

Research and planning projects such as the spontaneous volunteering initiative assist the organisation to prepare for extreme weather and other disaster events in ways which allow greater engagement with those people in the community seeking to act on issues such as climate change.