Pete raises a VERY important issue, particularly from a volunteer's perspective If Jeff's point about being excluded from a volunteer's personal insurance does end up applying to someone, and if things like training, SOP's, and signing a "hold harmless" agreement protects the sponsoring organization from liability, then a volunteer who is injured/killed seems to be on their own for any costs.

Which seems unfair, when I think of the implications. Someone makes the effort to volunteer, go through training and whatnot, then steps on a rusty nail while searching tornado-damaged homes as a CERT, and their personal medical insurance could decline to pay the medical bill if they're aware that it was during a CERT activation. On the other hand, Joe the Plumber could be doing "whatever" after the tornado, gets hurt, and is covered by his insurance as a private citizen.