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Crawford County Medical Reserve Corps Unit Profile

Community/Jurisdiction Served:

Ohio - Crawford County

This Unit serves the entire population of Crawford County. This includes both the Crawford County General Health District and the Galion City Health District.

Sponsoring Organization:

Crawford County Health Department

Date Established:

1/3/2007

Unit Information:

130 N. Walnut Street,
Suite B
Bucyrus, OH 44820
http://www.crawford-co.org/health

Contact Information:

David McElhatten
130 N. Walnut Street, Suite B
Bucyrus, OH 44820
Phone: (419) 563-1832

Profile:

In August, 2005, the Crawford County Health Department recruited 11 pharmacists and 259 RN/LPNs to support local health departments during public health emergencies. This initiative came about as a result of needing medical volunteers to staff mass dispensing and vaccination clinics within our county should a major disease outbreak occur. We are planning on holding a formal orientation program for our volunteers in 2007. Additionally, the Crawford County Health Department Director of Nursing has identified numerous on-line courses that would be beneficial to our volunteers in order to support their role in local public health emergencies. Our goal for 2007 is to have our volunteers transfer their name into the local MRC. This will allow for better organization and training of the volunteers. Additionally, this will allow those volunteers who wish to expand their participation beyond supporting the local health departments to do so. By doing so, additional training opportunities would be available for the volunteers. It is our hope that once the MRC is formed, the local Citizens Corps will act as the primary coordination and planning agency for the MRC. In the future, an exploratory committee will be formed to discuss the possibility of forming a "regional" MRC with contiguous counties. Some believe this approach would strengthen the MRC while reducing effort and cost. Once the MRC is formed, local use of our volunteers can expand beyond just supporting public health. They could be used to support other medical emergencies in the county or as requested using MRC guidance. Local emergency plans will have to be reviewed to identify other areas where these volunteers could be used and what training would be needed to prepare volunteers to additional roles. Additionally, the MRC would need to be added into the local Emergency Response Plans and Exercise Plan. Initial key parners would be: Crawford County Emergency Management Agency Galion City Health Department Crawford County Citizens Corps Crawford County Chapter of the American Red Cross Galion City Chapter of the American Red Cross Crestline City Chapter of the American Red Cross Bucyrus Community Hospital Galion Community Hospital

Volunteer Count:

Nurses	0
Other Public Health/Medical	0
Total	0

Recent Activities:

Last Updated on 12/31/2009