medical and public health volunteers.
The MRC is intended to supplement the resources of the existing community emergency response system, and to help meet the public health needs of the community throughout the year. During emergencies, MRC volunteers may also provide an important surge capacity when there is a shortage of regular health care providers.
Emergency duties of medical volunteers may include immunization and prophylaxis, triage, treatment and basic first aid, primary care, communicable disease control measures and distribution of the medications from the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal government repository of medications and supplies that is deployed to local communities during an emergency.
There are nearly 1,000 local MRC units and more than 200,000 volunteers across the country. MRC units are present in all 50 U. S. states, Washington, D. C., Guam, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands.
Here in Louisville, MRC volunteers have assisted during several public health emergencies. They helped to set up and provide services at a shelter for evacuees of Hurricane Gustav at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in 2008. They worked with the Department of Public Health and Wellness at a special needs shelter at the Walnut Street Baptist Church in response to the ice storms of January and February 2009, which shut down power in many parts of the city.
MRC volunteers are required to complete three training courses, which may be completed either online or face-to-face. The courses include a basic MRC orientation as well as training in the National Incident Management System( NIMS) and the Incident Command System( ICS). These trainings take approximately three hours in total. A criminal background check is also run on all MRC volunteers. Physicians must also provide licensing and certification information and will have that information verified by the appropriate board.
MRC volunteers that have active hospital privileges or who are currently practicing are also encouraged to complete a Hospital / Clinical Privilege Verification form. Those without a current license but who can document health care education and experience are encouraged to complete the Healthcare Experience / Health Care Education form.
Joining the MRC does not require a physician to respond to each and every call-up. The decision to respond if called upon is entirely voluntary. Having a waiting reserve of trained physicians whose credentials have been verified, however, ensures that the community will be able to provide life-saving interventions when needed.
Please strongly consider joining the Medical Reserve Corps. You will be providing a valuable service to your community. For more information go to https:// louisvilleky. gov / government / ema / join-medical-reserve-corps or call Ken Luther at 574-6648.
Dr. Schulte is the public health director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health.
Dr. Moyer is the medical director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health.
Later that same year, MRC volunteers worked with Public Health and Wellness and the University of Louisville to immunize more than 19,000 people in a day and a half in the parking lot of Papa John’ s Stadium in response to the threat of the H1N1 virus. MRC volunteers also worked that year to give H1N1 immunizations at all the city’ s public and parochial schools and at five other private schools.
Most recently, MRC volunteers participated in 2014 and 2015 in preparedness exercises to test our capability to dispense prophylactic medications to the community in response to a terrorist attack by means of“ drive-thru” dispensing sites at the gates of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center and at banks throughout the community.
Until fairly recently, the administration of the Medical Reserve Corps in Louisville was the responsibility of Louisville Metro Emergency Services. Oversight has now been transferred to the Department of Public Health and Wellness. A campaign is now underway to shore up the Medical Reserve Corps, particularly to recruit more physicians to the organization.
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