The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) now has a Web site to provide information to health care professionals who would like to volunteer to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

“The immediate and long-term health and medical needs of Haiti are currently being assessed by the United Nations and the Pan American Health Organization with the Haitian government. Once we know more about the results of this assessment, we'll have a better sense of the possibilities for volunteering,” states the Web site.

HHS has set up an email address to which medical professionals can send offers of volunteer medical care services.

According to HHS, those who are interested in volunteering should send an email to Haiti.volunteer@hhs.gov and include name, clinical area, specialty skills, degrees, and language capabilities (in particular, whether you speak Haitian Creole or French and if so, your level of fluency).

HHS will then log the information and share it with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the lead federal agency for the US response. Volunteers may be contacted if an opportunity becomes available that matches his or her skill set.

HHS goes on to encourage medical professionals to consider participating in the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) (esarvhp@hhs.gov) and the Medical Reserve Corps. These programs allow medical professionals the opportunity to establish a relationship with their state or the federal government in advance of an event, so that they can be prepared, credentialed and ready to go before the need send volunteer assistance strikes.