PLEASE JOIN THE
MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS
Joann Schulte, DO, MPH, and Sarah Moyer, MD, MPH
M
ass shootings
and other
events involving multiple casualties
have become commonplace in America. The
recent shootings in Orlando, Dallas and San
Bernardino, as well as
the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, raise the question, “If this
happened in Louisville, would the local medical community be
prepared to respond? “
The Medical Reserve Corps provides an answer!
Fifteen years ago, in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001,
physicians and other health professionals rushed to the scenes of
the attacks at considerable personal risk, wanting to save lives and
help alleviate the strain on the medical system. Despite their best
intentions however, the presence of the self-deployed, unaffiliated
volunteers was often problematic to emergency managers due to
issues of credentialing, liability and management. Ultimately, many
of the medical volunteers were turned away.
Credentialing was an issue. It was often difficult or impossible to
verify volunteers’ licenses and professional qualifications when the
emergency management system was overloaded or, in many cases,
shut down. Liability questions were rampant. Who would provide
legal protection for volunteers, many of whom had come from other
areas of the country? What should occur if the volunteers were
injured? How would they be treated or compensated? Volunteers
were often turned away because of management issues. Emergency
and medical managers needed to focus on emergency response and
accounting for their own personnel. They were not equipped to
manage large numbers of spontaneous volunteers.
To answer these concerns and to take advantage of the valuable
reservoir of physician talent willing to help, the Medical Reserve
Corps (MRC) was created. The MRC is a network of locally-established community-based units whose purpose is to meet the public
health needs in their communities, particularly in emergencies.
It is sponsored by the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
The MRC consists of medical and non-medical volunteers who
contribute to local health initiatives and supplement existing response capabilities in time of emergency. The MRC provides the
structure necessary to pre-identify, credential, train and activate
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