In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

As the Gulf Coast oil spill approaches the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, national and local groups are recruiting citizen volunteers to assist in the response both at the scene as well as remotely through the web. Below I am posting a CNN.com article with a list of organizations that were assembling lists of people interested in helping in the Gulf as well as the information on the group Crisis Commons which is recruiting people online from around the world to assist the efforts using technology.

According to a CNN.com article “Volunteers recruited to help in oil spill threat”:

How can you help? A number of organizations are recruiting volunteers.

The Audubon Society, which is affiliated with the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, is making its Center for Birds of Prey in Florida available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation. Elsewhere, Audubon said it was gearing up to mobilize volunteers and provide assistance as the oil reaches land in Louisiana and elsewhere. [You can sign up here.]

The Deep Water Horizon response team is looking for help in identifying shoreline and animals affected. Oiled wildlife should not be captured but instead reported at 1-866-557-1401. To report areas with oil ashore or to leave contact information to volunteer in the affected areas, call 1-866-448-5816.

These local organizations also are gathering volunteers’ information as they prepare for the environmental damage this oil can cause:

The Alabama Coastal Foundation is collecting contact information from volunteers for cleanup efforts along the Alabama coast should the oil spill reach the state’s shores. Call 251-990-6002

The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program is looking for volunteers to help reduce the potential impact of the oil spill in Mobile Bay. Call 251-431-6409.

The Mobile Baykeeper is asking for contact details of volunteers is collecting contact information for volunteers to respond anywhere along the Gulf Coast, if needed. Call 251-433-4229.

Save Our Seabirds is a Florida bird rescue group that is looking for volunteers and support as its response team prepares to help oiled wildlife. Call 941-388-3010.

For more information on volunteering in the Gulf as well as contributing remotely, you should check out Crisis Commons. It is an online community comprised largely of everyday citizens (many in the tech field), which employs technology, translations and information to relief agencies and disaster affected communities, most recently after the Haiti earthquake. It offers interested people an opportunity to be part of the response to major emergencies from wherever they are.

Crisis Commons held a conference call yesterday to begin planning how volunteers from the U.S  and around the world can be helpful in the oil spill response. For those interested, I would check the Crisis Commons Oil Spill page which offers more info on the organization and shows some potential projects as well as the Oil Spill CrisisWiki site which offers ways to help and ways to get help along with news and resources. I would also suggest following the Twitter lists CrisisCamp/OilSpill and NPRNewsGulf-Oil-Spill as well as @CrisisCamp and #OilSpill. (You can also email me, and I can put you in touch with Crisis Commons.)

A useful caveat for volunteers going to the scene is offered in this Discovery News article:

Training is essential for volunteers, who could themselves suffer health problems if they should come into contact with the oil. ”The public can’t just go out and pick up oiled wildlife,” Nils Warnock, field operations specialist at the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network, managed by the University of California at Davis, explained to Discovery News.

He added that an emergency phone number (866-557-1401) has been established where people can report animals affected by the oil spill. The public is encouraged to have ready the number and type of animals, the date and time they were seen, their location and any observations about the animals’ behavior.

Louisiana fishers sign forms offering their fishing boats and equipment to aid in protecting the coastal wetlands at the St. Bernard Parish Council Chambers in Chalmette (Credit: Associated Press).