Volunteer & Medical Reserve Corps
The Volunteer & Medical Reserve Corps consists of citizens interested in providing volunteer support during or following a local or regional disaster such as a flood, blizzard, hurricane, epidemic or terrorist act. The purpose of the Volunteer & Medical Reserve Corps corps is to establish a community-based volunteer unit composed of both medical professionals and support personnel who can assist public health and safety agencies during a health emergency or disaster.
V&MRC units are community-based and function as a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to making sure their families, homes, and communities are safe from terrorism, crime, and disasters of all kinds. Citizen Corps, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps are all part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service throughout the U.S.
Volunteers may serve in support roles answering phones or manning a Mobilization Center for spontaneous volunteer assignment, they may clear debris from roads or direct traffic, or they may serve food for disaster victims or manage shelters. Almost anyone can help the community in some manner when a local disaster occurs.
You may have specialized equipment like a four-wheel drive vehicle or a ham radio that that could be used to support communications and essential deliveries. Volunteers may also be needed simply to go door to door to ask citizens if they have problems or needs.
Volunteers Needed!
In the event of a large-scale disaster or public health emergency in Frederick County, persons 18 years and older with a variety of skills and experiences, both medical and non-medical, will be needed to assist and support the existing public health infrastructure. Currently, the Volunteer &medical Reserve Corps needs volunteers with a variety of skills, including:- Physicians, Nurses, EMTs and Paramedics, Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians
- Mental Health Professionals, Phlebotomists, Mortuary Services Professionals, Chaplains
- Veterinarians, Veterinary Technicians, Animal Control Professionals
- Security, Clerical Support/Data Entry, Health Care Administrators
- Translators, Health Care Educators, Others with specialized skills related to emergency services
- Support for feeding and sheltering operations
- Clean up and chain saw operations, debris removal, emergency home repair
- Provide four wheel transportation
What can you expect from the Volunteer & Medical Reserve Corps?
- To be assigned volunteer duties commensurate with your background, skills, and expertise.
- To be trained in emergency management and disaster medical operations.
- To serve the emergency public health needs of your community.
- To be placed, upon request, in an on-going volunteer position in the community.
What is expected of You?
Volunteers must be willing to respond to a disaster in the Frederick County area on short notice, both during and after normal work hours or on weekends. All response is on an as available basis, we ask that you first care for your own family.
Volunteers should be willing to work as part of a specialized team and regularly attend training and exercises. Please note, Volunteers are required to attend one training event a year, though we encourage everyone to attend as many as possible.
When deployed, volunteers may be subject to working under stressful conditions. Volunteers must conduct themselves in a manner that instills the trust and confidence of the public and emergency services community.
To apply to the Volunteer & Medical Reserve Corps, please use one of the forms below and return to Volunteer Frederick:
- Application (Adobe PDF)
- Fillible Application (MS Word .DOC)
If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Stephanie Schepp (Stephanies@volunteerfrederick.org) at 301-663-5214 ext 4#.
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