Affiliated Team Volunteers (ATVs)

An Affiliated Team Volunteer ("ATV") is a volunteer who associates with and is assigned to a Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) but does not possess full "Active" NET volunteer status. They are not deployed or indemnified by the City of Portland, though they have a profile in the NET volunteer database. ATVs appear on NET rosters only as prospective resources for an earthquake response. They are not required to log volunteer hours (though encouraged to do so) or meet the Minimum Service Contribution.

Volunteers join their local NET as ATVs from being either:

1. An active NET who wishes to step back their involvement but not leave the team entirely; or,
2. A neighbor who resides in a NET's Service Area and wants to help the team, but has not completed Basic NET training.

ATVs are envisioned as neighborhood-local volunteer resources to supplement a NET team in the aftermath of an earthquake. They appear on NET team rosters only for earthquake response frameworks, and fall under the response structure of their NET. The Team Leader of the NET in their neighborhood, therefore, is also their Team Leader.

General Expectations of ATVs

The following expectations and policies apply to all ATVs:

1. A volunteer in ATV status is not indemnified by the City of Portland. However, Good Samaritan laws still apply.
2. A volunteer in ATV status is never deployed by the City of Portland. An ATV that agrees to a specific role in a NET's earthquake response plan self-deploys.
3. Unlike NET volunteers, an ATV must be affiliated with a Neighborhood Emergency Team.
4. The assigned role (VSF) of an ATV is tied only to a NET's earthquake response plan. ATVs are envisioned assisting only in the aftermath of an earthquake.
5. All ATVs declare a Volunteer Support Function position appropriate for a non-NET volunteer. This declaration is made to their Team Leader and it appears on the earthquake response plan.
6. ATVs are tracked in the NET Volunteer database (as ATVs). This reporting is important for PBEM in assessing earthquake readiness.
7. ATVs are subscribed to ATV volunteer communications (such as occasional bulletins). Because of the way our volunteer database is designed, an active ATV cannot opt out of email communications, but we try to keep them light. Communications will include training opportunities for ATVs.
8. ATVs are permitted access to low risk NET advanced trainings if seats remain after they are offered to NETs. Occasionally, ATVs receive priority access to advanced training seats for training in their chosen VSF.

ATV Intake

NET Team Leaders always approve ATVs associated with their Team.

ATV Program History

"ATV" was first coined and suggested to Jeremy Van Keuren (PBEM) by NET volunteer David Given. David worked with Boy Scout volunteers and requested a volunteer status that kept a non-NET disaster response volunteer "in the loop" of NET activities and encouraged forming a planning relationship with local teams.

PBEM implemented the ATV status as a solution to two problems:

1. It offers exiting NET volunteers an alternative to separating from the NET program completely. If a NET volunteer is unable to meet/uninterested in meeting their Minimum Service Contribution but would like to remain a part of their local team, they can do so as an ATV. ATV status is an alternative to making a NET volunteer "Inactive" and completely discharging them from the program.
2. It encourages non-NET neighbors to volunteer with their local NET team by giving them a status in the program. A neighbor may be interested in disaster response activities with their community and want to plan ahead, but do not have the time and/or inclination to complete Basic NET training. Becoming an ATV gives them a team role to fill by declaring a VSF (e.g. radio operator) and makes them more ready to participate with a NET team than a spontaneous volunteer (SUV) would be.