Volunteer  typing guidance should be developed and implemented at the National and State level to enable volunteer resources to be efficiently and appropriately applied  as mutual aid resources between jurisdictions.

All volunteer typing schemes should address:

1. Training
2. Skills and capabilities
3. Individual experience

Additionally, security screening and deployment availability elements may be useful in volunteer typing.

Provision of a federal/state level volunteer typing guidance would accomplish the following:

• Volunteer resources can be identified as comparable between programs and jurisdictions
• Training programs can be more standardized
• Volunteers can be accepted as standardized mutual aid resources
• Different types/levels can be incentives for individual volunteers to obtain more training and affiliate with a program for the long term

Volunteer typing is important because it allows volunteer resources to be quantifiable as resources for the provision of mutual aid.

Jurisdictions must be confident that the volunteer resource they are requesting can meet their needs.