Federal Emergency Response
NIH HR Related Information for Hurricane and Natural Disaster Deployments and Effected NIH Employees
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has established a toll-free assistance hotline number (1-800-307-8298) for current and retired Federal employees and annuitants who may be impacted by the hurricane in the Gulf Coast area.
The toll-free number enables callers to leave their numbers for a call back within 4 hours. If the need arises, live operators will be on call to provide immediate assistance.
Federal employees with access to the internet can receive updated and important information on benefits, flexibilities and payroll at www.opm.gov/hurricane/index.asp. The site provides links to assist in contacting local Federal Executive Boards, other resources and announcements, and is continually updated with news and information.
Relief for Victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
In response to the damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has authorized the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) to begin distributing contributions made by cash or check to designated organizations supporting the relief efforts.
Contributions made by cash or check that are received and processed before November 18, 2008 will be distributed no later than November 21, 2008.
A list of designated organizations can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/cfc/opmmemos/2008/HurricaneGustafDisasterReliefOrganizations.doc.
All contributions processed after November 18 will be distributed as normal in April 2009. Payroll deductions, while not an immediate source of funding, are an important means of providing long-term assistance. Employees may make their pledges by filling out a pledge form which they will receive from their keyworker.
Volunteer
NIH leadership is preparing to respond in the event that we are asked by the HHS Secretary to assemble a clinical team to staff a field hospital to provide care for those who are displaced by Hurricane Gustav. The purpose is to identify personnel who would be willing to participate in such a deployment. Commissioned Officers have already been deployed and others are in the process. Commissioned Officers should be in touch with your formal chain of command (both the PHS chain of command as well as your NIH supervisors) with regard to hurricane-related activities.
For those of you who are not Commissioned Officers, if you are willing and able to be deployed, please identify yourself by sending an e-mail to NIH Hurricane Volunteers.
Once we have a clear idea of what HHS wants us to do, we will go through the formal process of assembling a team of NIH staff to be deployed. That process will include identifying and selecting individuals who have the right skill sets for the proposed tasks and who are willing and able to travel as well as getting clearance from your supervisor for your participation.
