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Southwest Michigan 5th District MRC Unit Profile

Community/Jurisdiction Served:

Michigan - Allegan County, Barry County, Berrien County, Branch County, Calhoun County, Cass County, Eaton County, Kalamazoo County, Saint Joseph County, Van Buren County

Michigan Emergency Management Region 5

Sponsoring Organization:

Michigan 5th District Medical Response Coalition

Date Established:

3/6/2006

Unit Information:

5DMRC - MSU/KCMS
1000 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
http://www.5dmrc.org

Contact Information:

Thomas Sivak
1000 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
Phone: 269-337-6600
Other: 269-337-4263

Profile:

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the 5th District Medical Response Coalition (5DMRC) was formed by the nine counties of southwest Michigan. The purpose of 5DMRC is to provide a forum for interdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional emergency healthcare preparedness planning. Membership in 5DMRC is open and inclusive of all 18 acute care hospitals, nine (EMS) medical control authorities, seven local public health agencies, ten local emergency management programs, and numerous EMS agencies and human services organizations from throughout southwest Michigan. The 5DMRC meets regularly on the second Tuesday morning of each month from 830 to 11 AM (see website at 5dmrc.org for additional information). One of the needs identified by the 5DMRC is for a group of volunteer healthcare providers capable of assisting the regional healthcare system during times of disaster or emergency. This group would supplement the traditional healthcare system during times of disaster or other emergencies. Activities include supplementing local public health emergency immunization initiatives (i.e., smallpox), providing additional staff support to Neighborhood Emergency Help Centers and staffing Acute Care Centers that would be established to care for non-ambulatory casualties when traditional regional hospital surge capacity is overwhelmed. The need for and the ability to create a regional medical reserve corps was perhaps most evident on Labor Day weekend 2006, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Officials from 5DMRC were requested by the Michigan Department of Health to provide healthcare screening services to hurricane evacuees being flown in to Michigan and be temporarily housed at Fort Custer Army National Guard Base. Within 6 hours of a request to the regional community, over 120 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other volunteer healthcare providers arrived at Fort Custer ready to assist. In the week that followed, over 250 healthcare providers from throughout the region volunteered their services to support this relief operation. Medical care was provided to over 250 evacuees housed at Fort Custer. Services provided included medical screening, treatment of acute and chronic conditions, filling of over 400 prescriptions, immunizations, and ongoing health maintenance services. While the volunteer healthcare response to this relief effort was impressive, it was not without challenges. These included limited ability to prospectively alert and communicate with volunteers, lack of basic training of most volunteers in basic disaster operations, and lack of uniform identification credentials which hindered access to the military facility. We believe that the creation of a 5th District Medical Reserve Corps will address these challenges and allow for an even more effective, efficient healthcare response during future regional incidents.

Volunteer Count:

Physicians	5
Physician Assistants	2
Nurse Practitioners	0
Nurses	25
Pharmacists	2
Dentists	0
Veterinarians	0
Mental Health Professionals	4
EMS Professionals	54
Respiratory Therapists	0
Other Public Health/Medical	7
Non-Public Health/Non-Medical	1
Total	100

Recent Activities:

7/21/2010
Created medical equipement kits for MRC Volunteers.

4/28/2010
Volunteer Recruitment and Information

3/1/2010
Current collaboration with Maine Township MRC Park Ridge IL, and Southeast Wisconsin Medical Reserve Corps.

1/6/2010
Meeting with Red Cross and MRC Coordinator to continue building relationship between Unit and Chapter

12/18/2009
H1N1 Planning and Potential Response for Deployment of MRC Volunteers. Our Unit utilized this opportunity to reach out to all health departments in the 9 county area we serve for a possible deployment of MRC volunteers to H1N1 clinics. All health departments were briefed on the Mission of MRC and the ability for the Unit to deploy as needed. All health departments sent back communication regarding the Unit and are working to incorporate MRC personal for future deployments.

Last Updated on 8/9/2010