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Public Health Department recommending the Board: 1) receive presentation on the benefits and importance of the Medical Reserve Corps; 2) approve, in concept, the formation of a volunteer Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) as part of the County's emergency planning and response system; 3) authorize the Director of Public Health and the Public Health Officer to utilize the MRC to supplement existing local emergency medical preparedness and public health resources; 4) authorize the Director of Public Health to ensure that volunteers are highly trained and organized through education, drills, and deployment in the event of a large scale health-related emergency.
FUNDING: HRSA and Bioterrorism Grants, Sheriff's Department, Sacramento Regional MRC
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Background: The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a federal, community-based program that was established after President Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. It is a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security.
The El Dorado County MRC will be a collaborative effort within the Sacramento Regional Medical Reserve Corps, which brings together volunteers from Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties. The purpose of the MRC program is to strengthen communities by setting up a system for medical and public health volunteers to offer their expertise during times of community need and throughout the year. Volunteers are often required to coordinate their efforts with those of complex medical emergency and public health response systems. To protect the safety of everyone involved in a response effort, preparation and training are vital.
Reason for Recommendation: Benefits of the MRC to our community will include augmenting existing emergency medical services in the event of a large scale health-related emergency with a highly trained group of medical and non-medical support personnel, providing volunteers the opportunity to assist in large scale emergencies and permit all First Responders the ability to focus on the most critical and life-threatening situations, bridging the gap in response time, enhancing public outreach, and addressing the health needs of the community.
The El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services will oversee the management of the MRC, including conducting background investigations and swearing-in volunteers as state Registered Disaster Service Workers. Each county in the regional MRC will provide and receive mutual-aid support to the region in the event of health-related emergencies.
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: Recruitment, training, and background checks will be funded by a coalition consisting of the Sheriff's Department, Marshall Medical Center, and the Sacramento Regional MRC. Incidental costs related to time spent in the engagement of these activities by Public Health personnel will be covered by budgeted HRSA and/or Bioterrorism Preparedness grants. There is no net County Cost.
Action to be taken following Board approval: Department to hold recruitment and public interest meetings in collaboration with County Office of Emergency Services; Office of Emergency Services to conduct background investigations and swear-in volunteers as state Disaster Service Workers; Department to determine training and exercise needs of newly formed volunteer group.