The research question is, how can health authorities proactively prepare for and advance a strong relationship with spontaneous volunteers that present in times of crisis? Without planning and broader acceptance of non-traditional responders to a disaster, health authority Emergency Managers will continue to rely only on traditional disaster planning methodologies and internal personnel to respond to disasters that affect hospital functionality. This is short sighted because the number of staff that respond to the call for help may be less than anticipated creating safety issues (Adams & Berry, 2012).
