What is a Duty Officer?
The Salvation Army Metropolitan Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) has many volunteer opportunities that can range from driving a canteen, participating in warehouse events, or being a part of a spiritual and emotional care team. But one of the most important and probably most overlooked volunteer opportunities is the work of our duty officers (D.O.). So what exactly is a D.O.?
In short, a duty officer oversees the 24-hour emergency hotline for EDS during an appointed shift and serves as the main point of contact between the agencies requesting support, and the canteen drivers and crew. During a disaster, agencies can call the EDS hotline and leave a message to request a canteen. The D.O. then responds to that message by calling the agency back, getting more information on their needs and deploying the on-call canteen driver and crew. They then continue to monitor the movement of the canteen and assist as needed. Communication is very important during a disaster and without the work of the D.O., canteen support would be all but nonexistent. Brian S. puts it this way, "As a duty officer, I am the voice they hear in the middle of the night or during the day. We need to make sure we get the correct information, such as where our services are needed, in order to make sure our team can respond to a call when requested."
Many of the current duty officers have been volunteering with EDS for years in this capacity, like Brian, who has been volunteering with EDS for 25 years. One of our duty officers, Tim D. put it like this, “Fielding a call kind of gets your adrenaline flowing and it is nice to make a contribution.”
And one of the cool parts is that you can make that contribution from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you might be at the time because the hotline is directed to your phone.
If you are interested in being a part of this ministry as a duty officer there are a few steps you need to take first.
Follow here to find out more.