Medical Reserve Corp

 

 

Who We Are and What we Do:

  • The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was founded after President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. It is a partner program with Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps are part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service nationwide.
  •  MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources.
  •  MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources.
  • MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals such as physicians, nurses,pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists. Many community members—interpreters, chaplains, office workers, legal advisors, and others—can fill key support positions.
     
  • MRC units are provided specific areas to target that strengthen the public health infrastructure of their communities by the U.S. Surgeon General. These are outlined priorities for the health of individuals, and the nation as a whole, which also serve as a guide to the MRC. The overarching goal is to improve health literacy, and in support of this, he wants us to work towards increasing disease prevention, eliminating health disparities, and improving public health preparedness.
  • MRC volunteers can choose to support communities in need nationwide. When the southeast was battered by hurricanes in 2004, MRC volunteers in the affected areas and beyond helped communities by filling in at local hospitals, assisting their neighbors at local shelters, and providing first aid to those injured by the storms. During this 2-month period, more than 30 MRC units worked as part of the relief efforts, including those whose volunteers were called in from across the country to assist the American Red Cross (ARC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
     
  • During the 2005 Hurricane Season, MRC members provided support for ARC health services, mental health and shelter operations. MRC members also supported the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) response and recovery efforts by staffing special needs shelters, Community Health Centers and health clinics, and assisting health assessment teams in the Gulf Coast region. More than 1,500 MRC members were willing to deploy outside their local jurisdiction on optional missions to the disaster-affected areas with their state agencies, the ARC, and HHS. Of these, almost 200 volunteers from 25 MRC units were activated by HHS, and more than 400 volunteers from more than 80 local MRC units were activated to support ARC disaster operations in Gulf Coast areas.
What can a MRC volunteer Do:

Support local public health, while advancing the
priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General:

  •  Promoting disease prevention
  •  Improving health literacy
  •  Eliminating health disparities
  •  Enhancing public health preparedness

Assist local hospitals and health departments with
surge personnel needs.

Participate in mass prophylaxis and vaccination
exercises and community disaster drills.

Train with local emergency response partners.

 How Can the MRC Benefit Your Local Community?
  • Bolsters public health and emergency response infrastructures by providing supplemental personnel
  • Enables communities to meet specific health needs
  • Allows the local community more autonomy – not as reliant on state and national resources
  • Gives community members the opportunity to participate in developing strategies to make their communities healthier and safer
     
  • Provides mechanisms for information sharing and coordination between all partner organizations
  • Provides a dialogue between emergency
    management and public health agencies
  • Allows for national recognition of local public health and emergency response efforts

Emergency Alerts

The link below will register you to be notified of all emergency alerts in the area.  Please sign up if you are not already registered.   Not all alerts will be related to the MRC, so we have a phone tree as well.  You will be added to the phone tree when you complete Orientation.

 Sign-up For PWC Alerts

Click here to learn about eBook                  

    IT'S A DISASTER! ...and what are YOU gonna do about it? 282-pg eBook covers natural and man-made disasters and basic first aid topics for only $2.50 U.S.

For more information,  call Sue Leferson, Medical Reserve Corps, (703) 369-5292, Ext 204
sleferson@volunteerprincewilliam.org

 

 

Voluntary Action Center
9248 Center Street
Manassas, VA 20110
(703) 369-5292
Fax: (703) 369-5671