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MRC Update From the Program Office: September 12, 2005

Dear MRC Leaders, and others interested in the MRC:

I was actually able to take most of the day off yesterday. Though I still had to take a few calls and answer some e-mails, it was really nice to see my wife and kids for more than just a few minutes. For those of you who have also been working non-stop since before Hurricane Katrina hit, I highly recommend taking a break!

Medical Reserve Corps units have been active in nearly every facet of this disaster response: from helping evacuees in your hometowns to deployments in disaster areas through various state and Red Cross mechanisms. You have also been busy receiving new members and working with partner agencies to spread the messages of emergency planning and preparedness in your communities.

In fact, now is a good time to promote the Citizen Corps advice about personal responsibility and training. Using Hurricane Katrina as a very real case study, you can encourage your community members to develop household preparedness plans and disaster supplies kits, to observe home health and safety practices, to implement disaster mitigation measures, and participate in crime prevention and reporting. You can also encourage people to take classes in emergency preparedness, response capabilities, first aid, CPR, fire suppression, and search and rescue procedures. Remember—everyone has a part to play in hometown security.

As I mentioned in my last update, it is beginning to look like we might be able to activate some Medical Reserve Corps members through the Department of Health and Human Services volunteer process soon. The Secretary and senior staff are anxious to see our volunteers given the opportunity to help in Katrina's wake. And if Ophelia gains strength before blowing into the Eastern Coast, the need for medical professionals may grow.

In the meantime, we've seen a lot of great things happening with MRCs around the country.

In Georgia, the Dekalb County MRC has been providing health information at an evacuee processing center. And the East Central Health District MRC has established and staffed a health clinic for evacuees at the local hotel where they are housed.
In Shawnee County, Kansas, the MRC recently participated in an exercise of its evacuee health screening process in anticipation of receiving evacuees. The unit's medical volunteers provided triage and evaluation, while non-medical volunteers provided flow and paperwork assistance.
More than 200 MRC members in Maryland have been deployed through the state's participation in Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), and another 54 MRC members in Virginia have been asked to deploy through the same process.
Joy Connorton, from the Upper Merrimack Valley MRC in Massachusetts, donned her unit's first logo polo shirt as she eagerly departed Sunday on a Red Cross deployment to the Gulf Coast. Her neighbors have rallied on her behalf—helping to care for the three small kids she has at home. While they can't provide medical or shelter care, the neighbors are supporting very necessary functions back home.
And many of your MRC units across the country have been preparing for the possible influx of evacuees to your areas, just like the Thurston County and Seattle (Washington) MRCs that have been participating in "Operation Evergreen." When evacuees arrive in these areas, the MRC units will assist with non-emergent medical intake, evaluation, and health assessment at the evacuees' point of arrival.

The response to our call for support of the American Red Cross (ARC) continues to be tremendous. To date, we have received 414 application packages, processed 386, and prepared 218 MRC volunteers for deployment. I have been asked by Red Cross leaders to continue this mission for at least 60 days. So please encourage your MRC volunteers to pace themselves - they will be needed as much in a month as they are now. We are continuing to review and update the FAQs for the ARC mission, based on the questions we receive at the MRC-ARC desk (202-303-5644 or hs-mrc@usa.redcross.org), and will post them on the MRC Hurricane Katrina Web page.

Reporting information about the MRC response is an area where I really need your help. I have even gone so far as to bring one of your own on board to help with our public information efforts. Mike Weibel, Coordinator of the Cache County (Utah) MRC, came to the Office of the Surgeon General last week for a short tour as our Public Information Officer. One item he has developed is the attached document with some key messages and media tips (Word 28KB) that you may want to consider.

Please remember that this is a national catastrophic event and that we need to collect a great deal of information in order to have an accurate and complete picture of the Medical Reserve Corps' response across the country. We are getting many requests for information from the media, as well as from Federal and non-governmental leaders. The stories and numbers you provide allow us to best portray the value and benefit of the program. Specifically, we'd like to know more details about your MRC unit activities, including the number of volunteers and the hours they have contributed during Katrina efforts at home, on Red Cross missions and on other deployments such as those within the states and through EMAC. I think one of the important lessons learned from this will be that all MRC units should develop a way to track their volunteers' involvement and hours worked - not only is it impressive, but this time component can be converted into monetary values. With this information, you show not only the "human benefit" (i.e., provided services to evacuees), but also the monetary (i.e., MRC volunteers services saved $X).

Also, please continue to let us know what we are doing right and what you think could be improved. Your feedback is not only appreciated, but necessary as well. Your cooperation and participation will help improve our program. And, if the need arises again, the Medical Reserve Corps will be better prepared to serve as an auxiliary component to the US Public Health Service.

Thank you for all your tremendous efforts. Keep up the good work.

Rob

CDR Robert Tosatto
Director, Medical Reserve Corps Program
Office of the Surgeon General

Last Updated on 5/25/2006