WELCOME to VIPR
What is the Volunteers in Preparedness Registry?
VIPR is Mississippi's Emergency System for the Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). VIPR is the online registration system for medical, health and non-medical responders for the State of Mississippi. It is a secure database of pre-credentialed health care professionals and pre-registered non-medical volunteers who are trained to provide a coordinated response to emergencies in support of our established public health and emergency response systems. This is your opportunity to help our state following a large scale disaster or other public health emergency. This system can be utilized as a volunteer database at the local and state levels, therefore avoiding duplication of information at each level.
During a disaster or mass casualty event with health and medical consequences, hospitals, local health departments, and other healthcare facilities may experience a surge in patients requiring supplemental human and other resources. In such instances, volunteers may be called upon to meet the demands of the incident. Some of these volunteers may be healthcare professionals with specialized skills, and the Volunteer Registry improves the efficiency of volunteer deployment and utilization by verifying in advance the credentials of volunteer healthcare professionals. This pre-registration and pre-verification of potential volunteers enhances the state’s ability to quickly and efficiently send and receive appropriate health professionals as needed to assist with an emergency response.
The ESAR-VHP program stresses confidentiality, volunteerism and protection. Information about volunteers will only be made available to government emergency planners if a disaster is declared. Registration on the VIPR does not obligate volunteers to serve during a disaster. If an event requiring volunteer assistance occurs, appropriate public health officials will use the Volunteer Registry to generate a list of potential volunteers based on information provided during registration. Those listed will be contacted and given information regarding the event, including where they would need to report, and be given the opportunity to accept or decline service as a volunteer. Volunteers are expected to maintain current contact information on the Volunteer Registry.
The Volunteer Registry is supported by federal funding from the National Healthcare Preparedness Program (NHPP).
To contact a VIPR Coordinator