Volunteer
Medical Teams Assist First Responders Throughout Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY, Jan. 3, 2005-Medical Reserve Corps
(MRC) units have been formed in five communities across Missouri to
enhance local public health and medical capabilities.
Gov. Matt Blunt said this program offers a direct relationship
for health care professionals to receive proper training and participate
in disaster responses.
“During the devastation in the Gulf Coast more than 6,000 MRC
volunteers supported their local communities with response and recovery
efforts,” Blunt said. “It is essential for first responders,
public health officials and community leaders to be trained together
to ensure Missourians’ good intentions to help in a disaster
situation are backed with proper disaster-response training.”
The five Missouri areas Mid-America MRC now serves are: The Kansas
City metropolitan area, Columbia/Boone county, Cole county, Northeast
Missouri stationed in Kirksville, and South-Central Missouri stationed
in Rolla.
MRC units are community-based and function as a specialized
component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated
to the safety of their communities. MRC units are comprised of local
medical, public health and other volunteers who can contribute their
skills and expertise to the community, both during emergencies and
to help the community deal with pressing public health needs and improvements
throughout the year. MRC units are intended to support and assist
the existing public health and medical response systems.
Each MRC unit is unique and is organized in response
to its area’s specific needs. A community’s hazards, health
concerns and host agency dictate the organization, composition and
operation of an MRC unit.
For more information, please visit www.medicalreservecorps.gov,
or contact Terri Durdaller at (573) 751-4819.