|
What is the Medical Reserve Corps?
President Bush tasked the Department of Health and Human
Services with developing and implementing the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).
In March, 2002, the Office of the Surgeon General undertook the
responsibility of developing the MRC program. MRC is a partner program
with Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring
hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with the AmeriCorps, Senior
Corps, and the Peach Corps, are part of the President's USA Freedom Corps,
which promotes volunteerism and service nationwide. MRC is a
community-based volunteer unit comprised of local health care professionals.
MRC units provide health professionals with an organized mechanism through
which they can volunteer their time and skills to strengthen their
communities by preparing for, and responding to large scale emergencies.
Why is it Needed?
After the events of September 11,
2001, thousands of Americans responded by volunteering to help in any way
they could. In order to be most effective during times of emergency,
volunteers must be organized and trained to work in emergency situations.
MRC is designed to provide organizational structure and promote appropriate
training of volunteers for communities.
What is the Purpose of the MRC?
- By design, all MRC units are local. The MRC
initiative is built on the concept that communities can help themselves by
organizing volunteer resources from within. The purpose of the
Indian River County Medical Reserve Corps is to:
- Recruit and credential medical volunteers before
the time of crisis
- Create a framework to match volunteers' skills with
their community's needs
- Train health professionals to respond better to the
needs of the individual communities, thereby enhancing local emergency
response efforts
- Provide reserve capacity at the community level to
respond to local health needs and priorities
- Enhance the efficiency of the existing health care
system during a disaster involving a large number of casualties
Who can Volunteer for the MRC?
- Practicing, retired, or otherwise employed medical
professionals, such as doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians,
pharmacists, nurses' assistants, and others
- Public health professionals
- Community members without medical training can
assist with administrative and other essential support functions
- United States citizenship is not required to be
part of the MRC. Non-citizen, legal U.S. residents are also welcome
to volunteer and contribute their time, knowledge, and skills to help
protect and improve their communities.
What do MRC Volunteers do?
The responsibilities of MRC volunteers
vary, depending on the nature of the needs in the community. MRC
volunteers can assist during emergencies and assist with public initiatives
and ongoing community health outreach and education efforts.
Major emergencies can overwhelm the capabilities of first responders,
particularly during the first 12 to 72 hours. Medical and other health
volunteers can provide an important "surge" capacity during this critical
period. They also can augment medical staff shortages at local medical
and emergency facilities. In short, communities often need medically
trained individuals and other to fill in the gaps in their emergency
response plans. Overall, this will help to improve their response
capabilities.
MRC volunteers also strengthen the overall health of Americans by
participating in general public health initiatives, such as flu vaccination
clinics and diabetes detection programs. With an overarching goal to
improve health literacy, the U.S. Surgeon General encourages MRC volunteers
to work toward increasing disease and injury prevention, eliminating health
disparities, and improving public health preparedness.
What Training will I Need?
Emergency preparedness and response is
a highly coordinated effort that allows communities to maximize their
capabilities during times of extraordinary disorganization and stress.
You may already know how to perform some of the medical and health functions
we so desperately need. In most cases, your training as an MRC
volunteer will focus primarily on learning local emergency and health
procedures, trauma response techniques, use of specialized equipment, and
other methods to enhance your effectiveness as a volunteer.
Perhaps the most important part of your training will be learning to work as
part of a team. An organized, well-trained MRC unit will be familiar
with its community's response plan, will know what materials are available
for use, will know its response partners, and will know where its skills can
be put to best use in a coordinated manner.
How do I Register to Become an MRC Volunteer?
To register, please download the
Volunteer Enrollment Application (Adobe Acrobat File, Size: 21KB).
Print and return completed form to:
Indian River County Health Department
Attn: Joan Gentgen, MRC Coordinator
1900 27th Street
Vero Beach, FL 32960
Or
Fax the form to: Joan Gentgen, MRC
Coordinator at 772-794-7453.
For further information or questions about volunteering, please visit the
MRC Frequently Asked Questions site, or call Joan Gentgen at
772-473-5271.
UPCOMING 2011 MRC TRAINING SCHEDULE
If you are interested in any of the following
trainings or would like more information, please contact Joan Gentgen,
Indian River County MRC Coordinator, at 772-473-5271. All trainings
below are open to IRC MRC volunteers.
|
