President Bush calls on physicians to be volunteers

Liability issues, however, could be a barrier.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. March 25, 2002.

Uncle Sam wants you -- to volunteer.

Less than two months after President Bush's State of the Union address announced new efforts to boost volunteerism, the government is talking to medical groups about starting a Medical Reserve Corps. Through the medical corps, physicians -- primarily retired ones -- and other health professionals would volunteer their services in emergencies such as terrorist attacks.

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The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, which is coordinating the medical corps, hopes to work closely with organizations such as the AMA and American Hospital Assn. With the help of HHS, communities would develop their own corps to be activated during an emergency.

"It's essentially a concept like a local volunteer fire department," said HHS spokesman Bill Pierce.

Days before Bush's Jan. 29 State of the Union address, the AMA's Senior Physician Services sent a mailing to 6,000 senior members, encouraging them to get trained for disaster preparedness and to offer their services to local health departments. Since the letter went out, 13 doctors have registered with the AMA as volunteers, AMA officials said.

Anne Barlow, MD, chair of the Senior Physician Services Governing Committee, said Bush may have a hard time recruiting retired doctors, most of whom no longer carry medical liability insurance.

"You can't do it without a license and some kind of liability coverage," she said.

In his address, Bush urged Americans to devote two years (or 4,000 hours) to volunteer service in their lifetimes. He specifically asked retired doctors and nurses to volunteer their time and be willing to mobilize in major emergencies.

Bush wants to increase volunteerism and involve Americans in homeland security at a time when the number of people volunteering has risen due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. During his address, the president announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps. The initiative calls for:

Expansion of volunteer programs AmeriCorps and Senior Corps by 200,000 new participants.
Doubling the size of the Peace Corps, which peaked at 15,000 volunteers in 1966.
Creation of the Citizen Corps to get American volunteers involved in protecting against terrorist attacks and aiding in future emergencies.

The medical corps, which falls under the Citizens Corps, will provide medical volunteers to assist health professionals during large-scale local catastrophes. These volunteers may help emergency response teams with patients, provide direct care to victims with less-serious injuries and treat homebound patients.

"Through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness, I know we can overcome evil with greater good," Bush said in his address.

The response to Bush's call for volunteers has pleased government officials. The USA Freedom Corps Web site received more than 6 million hits and 240,000 visitors while 4,800 people called its information line (877-USA-CORPS). AmeriCorps has seen a 50% increase in online applications. And Senior Corps, a national service program for older Americans, has experienced a 131% hike in visitors to its Web site.

"We're thrilled. It's a phenomenal response," said Sandy Scott, spokesman for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

Meanwhile, some medical organizations have seen an increased interest in volunteering.

Health Volunteers Overseas saw a 19% jump in requests for information in February.

"That is the power of the presidency," said Nancy Kelly, executive director of Health Volunteers Overseas.

Some doctors like the president's plan.

"We were very happy to hear him make that pronouncement," said Terrence Cook, MD, board chair of the Richmond County Medical Society's Project Access.

The Augusta, Ga.-based project is a new coordinated network of physician volunteers who give medical care to low-income, uninsured residents at doctors' offices and clinics. Organizers hope Bush's plea will bring volunteers to their program when it starts seeing patients in July.

"His call perfectly dovetails with what we are doing here," said Dr. Cook, an internist and allergist.