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 Home > MRC Spotlights > Unit Spotlight - November 2005
When was the Unit Founded? The unit was founded in 2002. What Drives the Unit? The Dutchess County NY Medical Reserve Corps was established to support both hospitals and public health in any broad-scale disaster. Volunteers should be able to help with Points of Distribution Sites (PODs), prophylaxis, and provide supportive care to hospitals. Founding Partners include: Office of the Dutchess County Executive, the Dutchess County Department of Health, Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response, the Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene, Northern Dutchess Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, Vassar Brothers Medical Center, the American Red Cross, the Hudson Valley VA Healthcare System, and the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association (2003–2005 MRC grantee). How Many Volunteers Does the Unit Have? The unit has 568 volunteers registered—consisting of 49% medical and 51% non-medical volunteers. Medical volunteers are used as supportive care rather than as first response critical care. Volunteers can assist with less serious injuries so the hospital staff can focus on the more serious cases. Non-medical volunteers are used in various roles such as caring for the elderly, providing child care, acting as greeters or translators, and completing data entry. The Founding Partners of the Dutchess County Medical Reserve Corps believe that non-medical volunteers are critically necessary to help medical professionals fulfill their duties. How Large is the Unit’s Staff? The staff consists of the MRC Coordinator (who ranges from part-time to full-time, depending on the week) and a part-time administrative assistant. Partnerships from the county government and local hospitals are vital to providing support to the Dutchess County Medical Reserve Corps for training courses offered to the volunteers. The Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response has led the development of policy and procedures, and the MRC will transition to an official part of the department in January of 2006. What are Some of the Unit’s Achievements? Bruce Marganoff, the Region II Regional Coordinator, selected the unit for its strong leadership and connections to the local community leaders. The unit provided the vehicle to strengthen communication between the local hospitals and public health communities. The unit has trained more than 100 volunteers in incident command, activation procedures, and volunteer roles, and approximately 60 volunteers have been trained in American Red Cross disaster response. In addition, 102 volunteers have been trained in non-medical roles with PODS, and 23 have been trained in medical roles for PODS. These volunteers have achieved New York State Department of Health certification in the appropriate roles. The unit has begun to recruit and train volunteers to assist with the special needs population. Also, the Dutchess County Medical Reserve Corps' nursing committee developed a nursing skills self-assessment. What are Some Recent Events that the Unit has been Involved in? The Dutchess County Medical Reserve Corps focuses primarily on training, which has been conducted for the past 2 years. Training is conducted on a rotating basis to meet the needs of full-time volunteers. There are typically six trainings per month. The unit’s founding partners absorb costs, so training is provided at no cost to volunteers. The unit will be participating in a Table Top exercise in November and December to engage volunteers in conducting cold calls on a telephone tree. The volunteers will be divided into 12 teams of 50 volunteers. Team leaders will be watching to learn how response agencies interact with one another and to develop specific procedures for volunteers in this role. A full-scale exercise will be held in the summer of 2006 with MRC volunteers playing actual roles. Fun Facts In December 2004, eight Dutchess County Medical Reserve Corps members participated in a live, 30-minute radio show. Members were interviewed about the MRC unit and sang Christmas carols. This was particularly impressive because the radio station has the largest numbers of listeners in the 25–65 age range in the region and played clips from the unit’s interview on the air for 3 consecutive days. Last Updated on 5/25/2006 |
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