Volunteer Opportunity for Medical Professionals – Global Emergency Response Roster

About Americares:

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster. Each year, Americares reaches 85 countries on average, including the United States, with life-changing health programs, medicine, medical supplies, and emergency aid. Americares is one of the world’s leading nonprofit providers of donated medicine and medical supplies. For more information, visit americares.org.

Americares Values:

We create global community, treating people as they want to be treated.
We respond effectively and responsibly, putting plans into practice.
We embed ethics and equity in our work and workplace.
We are better together; partnership is at our core.
We ask and listen, to create sustainable solutions for a healthier tomorrow.
We commit to quality, growing and improving to ensure individuals and communities thrive.

About the position:

Americares maintains a Global Roster, which is comprised of experienced professionals from all over the world who can be available for short-term emergency deployments. Roster members are generally deployed after an initial rapid assessment is conducted by Americares core staff, but on occasion we may ask Roster members to deploy immediately. Acceptance to the Roster does not guarantee deployment but does qualify members to respond with us for a future response if their qualifications would supplement the objectives of the intervention. Deployments can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months depending on the needs of the response. Competitive deployment compensation will be offered based on the candidate’s skills and experience if a member is requested to deploy.

Selected candidates will be required to complete a series of short online training courses on general safety and security and other topics or will be required to demonstrate they have completed the same or similar training. Periodic training will be offered to all candidates on relevant topics. After training and onboarding is complete, Roster members are considered eligible to deploy. Roster members are not compensated for time spent on training or other requirements.

All candidates, regardless of professional background, will require significant flexibility with rapidly changing patient needs, non-traditional work settings, resource constraints and the emotional toll of working with often vulnerable populations.

Please acknowledge that joining Americares Global Roster is not an immediate commitment, nor is it a full-time job with Americares, rather it pre-qualifies you to be able to deploy with us when we support communities and survivors facing disasters. Roster Members have time to prepare for a possible deployment before they are asked to deploy.

Doctors, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

• Examine, diagnose and treat patients
• Provide outpatient acute care, chronic disease management, first aid and basic life support
• Assist with mapping local referral pathways and make patient triage and transport decisions
• Oversee use of rapid/point of care testing
• Perform initial wound care and basic fracture management
• Utilize standardized data collection tools and meet defined reporting requirement
• Collaborate with local physicians, community health workers, health authorities and other stakeholders to enable integration with and adaptation to the local environment
• Conduct training, technical assistance and other capacity building activities within the context of Americares programs
• Provide culturally appropriate clinical care, patient education and counseling, utilizing interpreters when needed.

Registered Nurses

• Facilitate all aspects of patient care, from intake to discharge and referrals
• Conduct patient assessments and interviews, document patient history, obtain vital signs and make triage decisions
• Assist with minor procedures such as splint application, wound care and dressing changes, IV placement, phlebotomy and administering point-of-care diagnostic tests
• Preparation and administration of medications via oral, sublingual, IV, intramuscular, subcutaneous, inhaled, intranasal and rectal routes
• Maintain up to date patient records and ensure all patients are registered and appropriately documented
• Work closely with Americares logistics and support staff to ensure adequate availability of necessary medical supplies

Midwife

• Examine, diagnose and treat pregnant and post-partum women and infants in the outpatient facility or mobile unit.
• If deliveries are to be conducted or emergency deliveries carried out, they should comply with Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) standards. There should be a working referral system in place for pregnant or laboring women needing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) services.
• Care at mobile site may also include routine and emergency ANC consultations, normal vaginal deliveries if needed, if no time for referral, emergency obstetric procedures if required, resuscitation of newborns, immediate newborn care, assist with immediate and exclusive breastfeeding, provide routine or emergency PNC ANC consultations, provide family planning consultations, provide post abortion care, provide sick newborn and infant care, support routine immunization coverage, and other initiatives, such as Vitamin A, prenatal supplementation campaigns or distributions
• Recognize needs for higher level care and referral – including emergencies and ability to stabilize emergency patients for referral transportation
• If qualified, provide counseling, testing and treatment for STI’s
• Assist with the recognition of malnourished infants, children and women and provide appropriate assistance or referral
• Initiate basic tests, observations and examinations as needed
• Maintain best infection control practices

Pharmacist

• Act as emergency medical supply representative at the in-country duty station
• Work closely with the Logistics Lead and Medical Lead to determine emergency supply needs, standards, and available stock
• Implement supply management tactics based on the facility in use (hospital, clinic, mobile clinic, etc.) and immediate medical needs (vaccination, medication, etc.)
• Consistently review data to ensure that pharmaceuticals procured or donated are in accordance with Americares medical standards and international standards for safety and quality
• Liaise with medical, logistic and program support team members to confirm timely delivery of medical items, concise and accurate documentation and record keeping, and track expirations and quality assurance
• Provide guidance to improve systems and processes for pharmaceuticals management in the field

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

• Conduct rapid assessments of mental health and psychosocial needs in affected areas and communities
• Collaborate with community leaders and stakeholders to ensure community engagement and participation in mental health programs
• Establish referral pathways and networks to connect individuals with specialized mental health services when needed
• Develop and adapt culturally sensitive and context-specific mental health program and curriculum strategies aligned with relevant goals and policies
• Identify obstacles to timely program implementation and adapt strategies to meet objectives.
• Coordinate with the M&E Officer to manage data collection and reporting for mental health initiatives
• Prepare and deliver training to local counterparts and stakeholders, focusing on capacity building, and conduct post-training evaluations.
• Provide technical guidance to field staff and local partners on MHPSS best practices.
• Ensure compliance with ethical standards and confidentiality in mental health service delivery.
• Collaborate with local authorities and organizations to strengthen the resilience of the mental health system.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of international guidelines and best practices in MHPSS.
• Focus on quality assurance and provide technical assistance in mental health and psychosocial support services.
• Plan and provide mental health support services for responders in the field.
• Lead daily debriefs for the team in-country when applicable, and report back to MHPSS HQ team and/or MHPSS lead on the ground.

These competencies are required for the role:

• Medical degree/training required: MD/DO, NP, RN/CNM, PharmD or industry standard equivalent
• Experience working in the field an advantage, particularly in primary health care, maternal and child health, communicable disease, HIV/AIDs, or reproductive health
• At least 3 years of clinical experience
• Must be available to deploy within 24-72 hours of notice
• Experience working in an emergency response context preferred
• Ability to adapt to the needs of local patients and effectively utilize the limited resources available
• Employ independent decision making while also working well with a cohesive medical unit
• Works well under pressure and in stressful situations
• Extremely organized, flexible, and excellent communication skills
• Exceptional bedside manner in stressful situations

These competencies would be great to have, but are not required:

• Fluency in languages that are spoken in at least one of our core locations (India, Philippines, Tanzania, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Colombia, etc.), in addition to English.

Additionally, our core competencies as an organization are:

• Ownership and results
• Communication
• Problem solving
• Equity and inclusion
• Teamwork and conflict resolution
• Leadership
• Prioritization
• Management
• Strategy and planning
• Decision making