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.

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. [...]

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