**4. Conclusion**

Volunteerism has a significant impact during emergencies and disasters. The significance of volunteering activities is emphasized in both scientific studies and initiatives to reduce disaster risks. Community resilience is crucial in reducing disaster risks considering the limited resources of countries and the increasingly complex effects of disasters. Therefore, spontaneous volunteers can be a valuable human resource in reducing risks. It is clear from the literature that this subject is gaining more and more attention [43]. In this study, which the spontaneous volunteers are in emergencies and disasters, what kind of activities they take part in, and the benefits, challenges, and risks they provide as a result of past emergencies and disasters are given as a result of the literature review. This study is aimed to contribute to the studies to be done on this subject. Spontaneous volunteers, who come to the affected region with various motivations after emergencies and disasters and operate in many sectors, provide tangible and intangible benefits. However, professional organizations are reluctant to use spontaneous volunteers because they have challenges and risks such as insufficient knowledge and skills, lack of organization, security and liability problems, and limited resources, equipment, and personnel in existing management systems. Because spontaneous volunteers cannot be ignored in the affected area and the response resources are limited, it is clearly seen that it is a critical requirement to integrate these volunteers into disaster management systems. It can be said that this integration is a challenging due to the complex nature of emergencies and disasters, different types of disasters, different personal characteristics and skills, and the social and cultural differences of spontaneous volunteers.

In summary, integrating spontaneous volunteers, who are essential human resources, into emergency and disaster management systems and establishing a legal framework will significantly reduce disaster risks.
