Volunteer On-call Scheduling
I am the Butler County, OH LOSS/DOSS team coordinator and we are planning to launch June 1. I am curious how other LOSS/DOSS teams plan the scheduling for the on-call scene responder volunteers to make sure that if the scene is a suicide at least 1 team member has a suicide loss lived experience and if the scene is an accidental drug overdose at least 1 team member has a drug overdose lived experience. We currently have only 8 scene responders and will be training at least 2 more before June 1. Is this enough volunteers to make a schedule on a monthly basis? Trying to decide if we use a schedule where specific volunteers are on-call or just have a list of the volunteers and the team lead just starts calling the list to send out the team of 2. Please comment with any and all ways scheduling is done for your LOSS/DOSS teams. Thanks.
Good questions! With a limited number of volunteers, it might be best not to make a monthly schedule. You could know the schedules of your volunteers ahead of time, and try to choose days/times that work best for them. You might also have a back-up plan, to schedule a LOSS Team visit post-scene (i.e. within 24-48 hours) if you encounter scheduling issues.
Sandra McNally - EMPACT-Suicide Prevention Center