Office of the Surgeon General

Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps

Quarterly Progress Report

FY2009 Quarter 2 (January 1 – March 31, 2009)

MRC Status and Activity Highlights:

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of local groups of volunteers committed to improving the health, safety and resiliency of their communities. MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as others interested in strengthening the public health infrastructure and improving the preparedness and response capabilities of their local jurisdiction. MRC units identify, screen, train and organize the volunteers, and utilize them to support routine public health activities and augment preparedness and response efforts. The MRC mission is to engage volunteers to strengthen public health, emergency response and community resiliency. We are pleased to welcome 18new MRC units that were registered with the Office of the Surgeon General during this quarter:

Region / Region
1 / Capital Region MRC (NH) / 6 / Greater Abilene Area MRC (TX)
3 / West Piedmont Health District MRC (VA) / 6 / Oklahoma Region 3 – Carter County MRC
3 / Boone CountyMRC (WV) / 6 / Seminole CountyMRC (OK)
4 / Twenty First Century Youth MRC (AL) / 6 / Hughes CountyMRC (OK)
4 / FultonCounty Health/Wellness (GA) / 7 / Kansas Animal Response/Veterinary MRC
5 / Skokie MRC (IL) / 8 / Custer CountyMRC (CO)
5 / Marshall County Health Dept MRC (IL) / 9 / Mountain View MRC (CA)
5 / LoyolaUniversityChicago MRC (IL) / 9 / Santa CruzCountyMRC (AZ)
6 / Alamo Area MRC (TX) / 9 / Frontier & Rural Nevada MRC

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Office of the Surgeon General

Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps

Quarterly Progress Report

FY2009 Quarter 2 (January 1 – March 31, 2009)

During this period, 10MRC units were de-registered. At the end of the reporting period there were 174,778volunteers enrolled in804MRC units in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, and Puerto Rico. (Note: the number of volunteers is collated from the information provided by MRC units as part of their profiles on the MRC website)

The following charts give a quick snapshot of MRC growth, the number and regional distribution of MRC units and volunteers, and the categories of MRC volunteers:

The following charts are pulled from aggregate data (reported by MRC units across the nation as part of their unit profiles) and show some of the “characteristics” of the MRC network:

During this quarter, MRC units reported 1,172activities as part of their profiles on the MRC website: 210 administrative, 270preparedness, 137public health, 120emergency response and 435training. Samples of the activities that MRC units have been involved in during this reporting period include:

Public Health

  • The Chesapeake MRC (Chesapeake, VA) partnered with public school nurses to launch an influenza prevention campaign. Based on The Economic Impact of Volunteers Calculator, the value of the MRC members donated time was $2,828.
  • The Washington County MRC (Stillwater, MN) spoke to a local grammar school class about waste separation to promote environmental health.
  • Eight members of the Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa MRC (Omaha, NE) joined an area task force promoting child immunizations and assisted the local health department in administering vaccinations at a public health clinic.
  • The Niagara County MRC (Niagara Falls, NY) helped the local health department with flu shot clinics for older patients at the MountSinaiAfrican-AmericanChurchto include 12 first time flu shot recipients.
  • The Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa MRC (Omaha, NE) conducted approximately 50 blood pressure checks at a community event at a local Wal-Mart store.
  • The Mesa County MRC (Grand Junction, CO) participated in the Grand Valley Health Fair that served 2,500 people in western Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
  • The Calcasieu Parish MRC (Lake Charles, LA) participated in ‘SafetyTown’, a Public Health week-long event where 500 children were weighed, had their blood pressure checked, and Body Mass Index measured. Fire safety, bike safety, and tobacco free living topics were also presented.
  • The Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa MRC (Omaha, NE) unit’s medical and behavioral health volunteers provided first aid at the area's annual Walk for Warmth.
  • Ten members of the Doniphan County MRC (Atchison, KS) assisted with health and medical support for the March for Meals parade.
  • Three Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa MRC (Omaha, NE) members assisted the local health department in conducting a STD screening at a Black Family Health and Wellness Fair.
  • The Nolan County MRC (Sweetwater, TX) co-sponsored a program with the local health department to present information to the community on heart disease in women.
  • Members of the Hatch Junior MRC (Las Cruces, NM) helped to promote and sign up students and adults for the Annual Blood Drive held at a local high school.
  • The Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa MRC (Omaha, NE) assisted the local health department in administering PPD testing as well as meningitis, flu, and human papilloma virus vaccine.

Preparedness/Training

  • The Kauai Junior MRC (Lihue, HI), the first Junior MRC unit in Hawaii,offered its members orientation and training that covers ICS 100 and MRC core competencies.
  • Volunteers with the Santa Rosa MRC (Milton, FL) joined the local health department in a functional exercise in three drive-thru flu vaccination PODS by offering free flu shots.
  • Seven volunteers with the Colorado STAR MRC (Parker, CO) trained law enforcement officers to treat penetrating trauma life threats prior to EMS arriving on scene.
  • The Rappahannock-Rapidan MRC (RRMRC) (Culpepper, VA) trained volunteers to become members of the RRMRC Epidemiology Response Team.
  • The Yavapai County MRC (Cottonwood, AZ) participated in a public health tabletop exercise assessing county and regional response abilities in staffing and operating a Special Needs Shelter.
  • Eight MRC volunteers from the Oak Park Department of Public Health MRC (Oak Park, IL) participated in annual Bloodborne Pathogen training. In addition, volunteers were trained on anti-nerve agent countermeasures (Mark I and DuoDote kits).
  • The UMass Amherst MRC (Amherst, MA) provided MRC 101 training to 56 nursing students enrolled in the School of Nursing’s Second Bachelor’s Degree program.
  • The Chattanooga-Hamilton County MRC (Chattanooga, TN) provided MRC Core Competency training for approximately 200 Health Occupational Students of America (HOSA)and Jr. ROTC students
  • Sixteen members of the Brazoria County MRC (Alvin, TX) distributed over 140 Emergency Alert Radios and preparedness information to special needs registrants.
  • The Village of Palatine MRC (Palatine, IL) gave a MRC Certificate of Appreciation to an Eagle Scout for completing his Eagle Scout project with the unit regarding family preparedness and community resiliency.
  • The McLean County Health Department MRC (Bloomington, IL) offered a radio communication class to its volunteers.
  • The Wisconsin Disaster Medical Response Team MRC (Appleton, WI) offered training to MRC members to review and practice taking vitals and starting IVs on a K-9 team.
  • The Brazoria County MRC (Alvin, TX) had four junior MRC members froma local high schoolwin in the Area 6 HOSA contest for their diabetes community awareness project and another member win in the EMT competition.These MRC/HOSA volunteers will compete in the Texas HOSA state competition.
  • The AHEC South Arkansas MRC (El Dorado, AR) held a day long workshop entitled “Disaster ABC's for the Community” that focused on biological threats, psychological first aid (PFA), and event rehabilitationto formally train volunteers that can assist in the event of local medical or public health disaster.
  • Thirty-five members of the Central Nebraska MRC (Hastings, NE) participated in CERT training.
  • Fourteen members of the South-Central Missouri MRC (Rolla, MO) participated in a refresher PFA training class. The unit leader and PFA trainer provided scenarios taking place in an emergency shelter, allowing MRC membersto become better acquainted with situations they might encounter while assisting in a shelter.
  • The St. Louis County MRC (St. Louis, MO) hosted “basic training”focusing on bioterrorism and Point-of-Dispensing site operations, for 15 new MRC members.
  • Twenty members of the Columbia/Boone County MRC (Columbia, MO)participated in a meeting that includedenvironmental health training and food and water safety issues during a public health emergency.
  • Twenty-four members of the Shawnee County MRC (Topeka, KS) participated in the unit’s fourthPFA class. The class was open to MRC members andlocal hospital staff.
  • Twenty-five members of the Douglas County MRC (Lawrence, KS) participated in Animals in Disaster training course with the local Humane Society.
  • The Central Nebraska MRC (Hastings, NE) conducted a PFAtraining course. The course was open to MRC members, public health employees, emergency management personnel, and those involved in pastoral care.
  • Twenty-fix members of the Doniphan County MRC (Atchison, KS) participated in a statewide March Health Madness emergency call-down exercise.
  • The Pueblo MRC (Pueblo, CO) participated in a tabletop exercise to assess medical surge and alternate care facilities.

Response

  • Due to winter storms, three Kentucky MRC units provided nurses, environmental health specialists, registered dietitians, and other volunteers to assist at a Red Cross shelter and special needs shelters.In total, over 200 Kentucky MRC volunteers provided over 2,000 hours of service during the response to the winter storms.
  • For the Presidential Inauguration, twenty-five RNs and mental health volunteers with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene MRC (Baltimore, MD) staffed threeshelters.
  • Due to a winter storm, five volunteers with the Skagit County MRC (Mt Vernon, WA) assisted the Department of Emergency Management by answering phones. Through donating 102 hours over 11 days, and based on the Economic Impact of Volunteers Calculator, the value of the donated time is $4,705.
  • In response to a tornado, the Comanche County MRC (Lawton, OK) opened and staffed a medical needs shelter.
  • Eight nurse volunteers of The Whitley County MRC (Corbin, KY) deployed to Western Kentucky to help staff two Special Needs Shelters. The Whitley County MRC volunteers were able to work at 2 different shelters for 12-hour shifts over a period of 3 days logging over 324 hours.
  • One hundred volunteers with the Memphis/Shelby County MRC (Memphis, TN) participated in the county’s WinterUtilityAssistanceCallCenter, receiving more than 3,000 calls from local residents and assisting in dispersing an estimated $394,000 in utility vouchers.
  • Due to flooding, the Putman County MRC (Ottawa, OH) activated MRC volunteers to assist at the local EOC and at local shelters.
  • Due to Red River flooding, Minnesota MRC units assisted with special needs sheltering in North Dakota and Minnesota.
  • The Albuquerque-University of New Mexico MRC (Albuquerque, NM), in cooperation with the American Red Cross of the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter evacuated ten families to safety during a large scale SWAT operation.
  • Six members of the Texas County MRC (Houston, MO) deployed to Thayer, MO to assist with shelter operations resulting from a January ice storm in southern Missouri.
  • The ND Public Health Emergency Volunteer MRC (Bismarck, ND) responded to the Red River Flood in Fargo, ND. Approximately 20 volunteers participated by evacuating nursing home and hospital patients to other sites.
  • Four volunteers with the Whatcom County MRC (Bellingham, WA) provided triage, consulting, and first aid at a local project for homeless individuals. The estimated value for the volunteers’ time is $906.
  • Several local Southern Nevada MRC (Las Vegas, NV) volunteers provided first aid support at a local mountain biking event in Mojave.

Administration

  • The MRC of Escambia County (Pensacola, FL) met with faculty from a local university to strengthen recruitment partnerships with several academic programs.
  • The Greater Ketchikan Area MRC (Ketchikan, AK) met with State Citizens Corp representatives to discuss liability coverage concerning a Junior MRC program.
  • During recent flooding, the Linn County MRC (Cedar Rapids, IA) identified a need for trained personnel to operate and manage a special needs/medically fragile shelter. Meetings are being conducted to determine the next steps.
  • The Maine Township MRC (IL) is working with local Citizen Corps councilsin Indiana, Tennessee, and Californiato duplicatethe Great Lakes MRCconcept of working withU.S.naval bases.
  • The Detroit MRC (Detroit, MI) joined the Michigan Alert System.
  • The Holmes County MRC (Millersburg, OH) recruited Amish volunteers to assist the local community during times of need.
  • The Boone County MRC (Lebanon, IN) met with local partners to form a healthy coalition for the county. The coalition will work together to identify gaps in services and eliminate a duplication of efforts, allowing for the MRC to recruit from within these agencies and provide a forum for health promotion.
  • The Oklahoma Nurses MRC (Oklahoma City, OK) recruited and provided awareness of the program at “Nurses Day at the Capitol” sponsored by the Oklahoma Nurses Association.
  • The Southern New Mexico MRC (Las Cruces, NM) held a Border Health Exercise meeting to plan and organize a tabletop andfollow-up operational exercise. The exercise would simulate a pandemic influenza scenario to be applied in the bi-national border setting of LunaCounty and Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico.
  • The Oklahoma County MRC (Oklahoma City, OK) held a Volunteer Appreciation Night to provide recognition of volunteers who donated time in 2008.
  • The Craighead County MRC (Jonesboro, AR) outfitted a trailer with supplies for a disaster response, and also plans to purchase AWIN and HAMM radios for on-scene and regional communications during a response.
  • A steering committee of 12 MRC membersmet to discuss 2009 strategic planning for the South-Central Missouri MRC (Rolla, MO).
  • Twenty Douglas County MRC (Lawrence, KS) members participated in a Quarterly Volunteer Meeting/Volunteer Meet & Greet. The meeting featured a discussion of upcoming events and the Kansas state MRC coordinator gave a presentation on the Kansas System for the Early Registration of Volunteers (K-SERV).
  • The Central Nebraska MRC (Hastings, NE) sponsored a booth at the 2009 Nebraska Emergency Medical Services Association Winter Conference.
  • Thirty-five members of the Central Nebraska MRC (Hastings, NE) participated in a dinner, awards,and training event.
  • A County Animal Response Team leader meeting was held by the Kansas State Animal Response Team/Veterinary MRC (Wichita, KS) to bring together team leaders, volunteers, American Red Cross leaders, veterinarians, and county emergency managers in an effort to more effectively manage response teams.
  • Twenty-six members of the Doniphan County MRC (Atchison, KS) participated in the unit’s first orientation session.
  • The MRC of Boulder County (Boulder, CO) unit coordinator participated in the Boulder County Medical Society All Hazards Committee Meeting to network with county doctors for future events.

Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps Activities and Accomplishments:

The mission of the Office of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps (OCVMRC) is to support local efforts to establish, implement, and sustain MRC units nationwide. The OCVMRC is headquartered in the Office of the Surgeon General and functions as a clearinghouse for information and guidance to MRC units and other stakeholders. OCVMRC activities include strategic planning, intra- and interagency coordination, communications, policy development, program operations, grants management, contract oversight, technical assistance, and deployment operations. These activities are carried out by OCVMRC staff,including theMRC Regional Coordinators. A staff directory can be found on the MRC website at:

Major activities and accomplishments during the reporting period included:

  • Fivenew State MRC Coordinators were appointed:
  • Arizona, Antonio Hernandez (, 602-763-1774)
  • Arkansas, Deborah Bittle (, 501-280-4425)
  • Delaware, NicoleDesmarais (, 302-223-1720,Ext.31734)
  • Georgia, RichardQuartarone (, 404-463-1419)
  • Missouri, Sharlet Howren (, 573-522-4098)
  • MRC staff participated, presented and/or exhibited at the following meetings and conferences:
  • Region IV MRC Regional Meeting
  • Three PFA Train-the-Trainer courses
  • North American Veterinary Conference
  • CDC Radiation Response Volunteers Roundtable
  • 2009 Public Health Preparedness Summit
  • ESF #8 Patient Care ConOpsWorkgroup Meeting
  • Integrated Civilian-Military Domestic Disaster Medical Response Working Panel Meeting
  • Texas Homeland Security and Hurricane Conference
  • TexasA&MHealthScienceCenter Medical Special Needs (MSN) Preparedness Symposium
  • MRC Deployment Operations activities included:
  • Held an MRC Deployment Workgroup meeting to discuss deployment competencies and other issues
  • Made final arrangements for MRC Deployment Training to be held in May. Deployment Operations staff screened over 270 applications to select 25 attendees for the training. The training will consist of hands on activities, classroom discussion and a field exercise.
  • Finalized the contents of an MRC Deployment Guide. This booklet will be roughly 100 pages and serve as a pocket sized reference guide for MRC volunteers on deployment.
  • Briefed PHS officers who serve as deployment team leads to raise awareness of the MRC Federal Deployment capability.
  • The MRC website continues to be a great source of information for MRC leaders and others interested in the MRC program. During the reporting period, we saw the following usage of the website:

January / February / March
Number of Website Visits / 37,874 / 38,908 / 31,043
Average Number of Website Visits per Day / 1,221 / 1,389 / 1,001
Average Length of Visit (min:sec) / 00:31:02 / 00:27:39 / 00:24:29
  • The OCVMRC completed and released its 2009-2010 Strategic Plan. This plan aligns OCVMRC with the plans and priorities of the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), the Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It can be found on the homepage of the MRC website.
  • MRC In Focuswas selectedfor a 2009 Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awardfrom the National Association of Government Communicators in the Internal Newsletter category.
  • The MRC Leaders Listserv (Two-Way) had650subscribers at the end of the reporting period, and 169 messages were sent during the quarter.
  • The MRC Listserv (One-Way) had 2,124subscribers at the end of the reporting period, and 24 messages were sent during the quarter.
  • The MRC State Coordinators Listserv had50subscribers at the end of the reporting period.
  • Technical Assistance (TA) Assessments have been instituted as a tool for guiding discussion about an MRC unit’s needs and priorities for organizational development. More information can be found at 117TA Assessments were completed during this quarter: