During an emergency, a person who holds a license, certificate or other permit that is issued by the state and that evidences the meeting of qualifications for professional, mechanical or other skills may be credentialed, if appropriate and approved by the department of health or the homeland security and emergency management department, to render aid involving those skills to meet a declared emergency, and shall be considered a public employee for the purposes of the Tort Claims Act [ 41-4-1 to 41- 4-27 NMSA 1978] when approved to perform those duties.