Oxford County Medical Reserve Corps(MRC) received a $10,000 Capacity Building Award from the Office of the Surgeon General through the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The grant is designated to be used to recruit, screen and train volunteers to assist medical, public health and mental health agencies in the event of a major emergency. The 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. It is a partner program with Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps are part of the President’s USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service nationwide.
MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources.MRC units are provided specific areas to target that strengthen the public health infrastructure of their communities by the U.S. Surgeon General. These are outlined priorities for the health of individuals, and the nation as a whole, which also serve as a guide to the MRC. The overarching goal is to improve health literacy, and in support of this, he wants us to work towards increasing disease prevention, eliminating health disparities, and improving public health preparedness. MRC volunteers can choose to support communities in need nationwide.In Maine, the MRC is coordinated through Don Ward at Maine CDC. Oxford County MRC is working with hospitals, ambulance services, health related agencies, and local health authorities to develop the teams. Preliminary plans are in place for a team at Stephens Memorial Hospital under the direction of Emergency Management Director Mike Hatch. Other agencies have expressed interest in the program but have not yet committed to the project.