| The Palm Beach County Medical Reserve Corps |  |
National Priorities…Meeting Local Needs
An opportunity to serve
Mission:
To improve the health and safety of Palm Beach County, Florida residents by organizing and utilizing public health, medical and other volunteers to respond to natural or man-made disaster events and other local public health needs.
History:
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was founded after President Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. MRC is a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Peace Corps are all part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service throughout the nation.
About:
MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers -medical professionals and others - who want to donate their time and expertise to promote healthy living throughout the year and to prepare for and respond to emergencies. MRC volunteers supplement existing local emergency and public health resources.
MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists. Other community members, such as interpreters, chaplains, office workers and legal advisors, can fill other vital support positions.
MRC Serves at the 2008 Marathon of the Palm Beaches
What Can MRC Volunteers Do??
- Support local public health, while advancing the priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General:
- Improving health literacy
- Promoting disease prevention
- Eliminating health disparities
- Enhancing public health preparedness
- Assist local hospitals and health departments with surge personnel needs.
- Participate in mass prophylaxis and vaccination exercises and community disaster drills.
- Train with local emergency response partners. And more…
How Can the MRC Benefit Our Local Community?
- Bolsters public health and emergency response infrastructures by providing supplemental personnel. Enables communities to meet specific health needs.
- Allows the local community more autonomy - not as reliant on state and national resources.
- Gives community members the opportunity to participate in developing strategies to make their communities healthier and safer.
- Provides mechanisms for information sharing and coordination between all partner organizations.
- Provides a dialogue between emergency management and public health agencies.
- Allows for national recognition of local public health and emergency response efforts.