Is anyone an international aid worker for the red cross?
I can’t tell you how the Australian Red Cross works, as each national society operates a little differently. In order to be deployed internationally, any volunteer must have extensive local and national experience. The American Red Cross has a Disaster Services Human Resource System. There is a full syllabus of classes that volunteers take, selecting training from what their interests and skills match. At the same time, they are expected to be committed, active volunteers in their local chapters (that translates into 2 active 8-hour shifts a month, roughly, in New York City.) When a disaster strikes, the staffing unit calls down volunteers according to their lists of trained people with the language skills for the location. A volunteer can always reject an assignment. In the US, the standard deployment length is 3 weeks, but is often shortened to 2. I hope this helps. It might give you more information to ask directed questions.