AUGUSTA — Today, March 27, Gov. Janet Mills and CDC Director Dr. Nirav D. Shah emphasized the need for retired or semi-retired medical professionals, especially emergency service personnel, critical care and emergency room nurses and doctors, including pulmonologists, respiratory therapists, anesthesiologists, and others who could help with respiratory care during an emergency.

The appeal is for licensed but retired or semi-retired and formerly licensed medical providers to register at maineresponds.org.

“We are exploring ways to expedite renewal for retired professionals whose licenses expired,” said Robert Long, CDC spokesperson. “But we’re not asking for ‘unlicensed’ providers.”

“A patient’s journey begins with the call to 911,” said Shah, at the daily press briefing held in Augusta (Watch it here).

While not all COVID-19 cases enter the hospital via the emergency room, there nonetheless remains the need to assemble a list of standby health care staff to what may lie ahead.

That “trained coterie of critical care staff,” is essential to the planning currently underway at the Maine CDC, for any eventuality as COVID-19 moves through the state.

Maine Responds is a partnership that integrates local, regional, and statewide volunteer resources to assist our public health and healthcare systems. It is part of a national initiative to train, coordinate, and mobilize volunteers during an emergency. Maine Responds coordinates verified, pre-credentialed public health, healthcare and emergency response volunteers into a single database that can coordinate the need for volunteers across county, regional, and state lines if needed.

Registering as a Maine Responds volunteer will help ensure that people affected by a disaster will receive the public health and medical care they need. Registration is the first step in meeting this urgent need within Maine and the nation.

This site allows you to register as willing to provide services during a disaster or emergency situation. The registration system will collect basic information about you and your professional skills. Please click on the Register Now button below to begin the registration process. If you have already completed the registration process or wish to return to an in-progress registration, please sign-in using the log in area on this page.