Town Wants to Beef Up Medical Reserve Corps

indigo girl · Sep 11, 2007

Too late to go this, but it is good to be aware that this exists in this state.

I am sure that if anyone wished to volunteer for the future that they would

be glad to have you. Continuing education credits are awarded

for attending classes in some states.

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/homepage/x1279113943

The reserve corps deploys in a medical emergency, with volunteers doing everything from screening and registering patients to providing crowd control.
Following training sessions later in the month, volunteers can act as patients or staff members during a drill for a pandemic flu. During that exercise, the reserve corps will work with Caritas Norwood Hospital, which will set up an alternative care site to be used by people too sick to remain at home, but not sick enough for hospital care.
"What the hospitals are doing is forging partnerships with local communities so they can call the MRC (Medical Reserve Corps) members," Health Director Linda Shea said yesterday.
"We haven't had a pandemic flu in the United States in approximately 40 years, so there's not a lot of experience in running a facility like this," said Michael Flanagan, emergency preparedness manager for Caritas Norwood Hospital. "This will provide us with an opportunity to gain experience, to learn where we can improve plans, and develop things such as job action sheets and optimize performance should a pandemic ever strike."