The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, has a mission to provide relief to victims of disasters and to help people prevent and prepare for and respond to emergencies. The site lists volunteer opportunities for anyone in the community who wishes to donate their time or resources to the Red Cross.

Volunteers are needed to serve as speakers, board members, work during state and national disasters, serve on the disaster action team, work in homeless shelters, work with youth, teach and conduct grant research.

Child development

The University of Michigan Web site YourChild, edited by co-founder Kyla Boyse, RN, is an Internet guide to information, support and resources for parents about child development and behavioral topics.

"We provide a good overview of each of our topics, including parenting tips and we have many links, so that parents can go in-depth through the reviewed links on each aspect of each topic they are most interested in. We also strive to connect parents with support, particularly online sites that can help parents find local support groups," Boyse said.

Patient safety

The National Patient Safety Foundation is an organization composed of health care providers who believe patient safety is central to quality health care as reflected by the Hippocratic oath: "Above all, do no harm."

The site provides educational information for nurses on how to talk to patients about health care injury and the impact of staffing shortages on patient safety.

The patient safety resource link contains a bibliography of more than 3,000 books, articles and reports, a discussion forum, patient safety resource links and information for the patient safety officer.

Be prepared

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has prepared a guide, "Are you ready? A guide to citizen preparedness," that provides facts on disaster survival techniques, disaster-specific information and how to prepare for and respond to both natural and manmade disasters.

It includes step-by-step outlines on how to prepare a disaster supply kit, emergency planning for people with disabilities, how to locate and evacuate to a shelter and even how to care for family pets.

Those interested in volunteering to help during disasters can obtain information at Citizen Corps, which was created after Sept. 11 in response to citizens asking "What can I do?" and "How can I help?"

End-of-life care

The Last Acts Web site offers the "Five principles of palliative care" and a report, "Means to a Better End: A Report on Dying in America Today." The site rates the quality of individual state advance directive laws.

Another site, Choices Bank, allows you to create an advance directive and then deposit it into the Internet site where it can be viewed at any time. The site allows users to choose the level of privacy they want regarding their advance directive and permits only those they choose to access their directive.