Summer Issue June Aug MRC WHO ARE WE Medical

Summer Issue June-Aug. 2007 MRC- WHO ARE WE? Medical Reserve Corps as it Applies to Health Department Volunteers By Debra M. Tscheschlok RN, BSN Public Health Emergency Response Coordinator Hello Volunteers, As a Madison County Health Department volunteer you are now officially part of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Our full name will be the “Madison County Medical Reserve Corps”. The only change you personally will notice is the new name. You are still only committing to helping this health department in a public health emergency. For the health department, it means we can receive occasional but not consistent grant dollars to help support the program. The health department registered with the program several years ago. We waited to use the name until we understood what MRC was about, which became more defined as the national program evolved. Volunteers Madison County Health The MRC was founded by President Bush in 2002. The mission of the Medical Reserve Corps is to improve the health and safety of communities across the country by organizing and utilizing public health, medical, and other volunteers. You do not have to have a medical background to belong: anyone willing to help can be part of the MRC. It is important to note that no two Medical Reserve Corps volunteer programs are just alike. Since there is no funding tied to MRC units, they are free to create a purpose in a way unique to their communities. Madison County MRC unit’s purpose is to support the distribution and dispensing of the Strategic National Stockpile. continue on page 4 Volume 1, Issue 1 Helpful WEBSITES MRC (Who we are?) Trainings Adult CPR Training Great News Recruitment MRC (Who are we?) Are you ready? 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 • www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/ index.asp. www.medicalreservecorps.gov/ About www.pandemicflu.gov www.ready.gov • • • Trainings My name is Phelon Williamson and I am the Americorps Volunteer Coordinator at the Madison County Health Department. I want to thank you for participating and volunteering for the Madison County Medical Reserve Corps. For those that have not attended, we will hold an orientation training here at the Health Department on Monday, July 9, 2007 from 5:30p.m.-7:30p.m. This orientation training is to give you an idea of what is expected of you in case of a public health emergency. Please come out and join us! We will have pizza, please RSVP. Madison County Reserve Corps Summer 2007-Page 1 AdULT-CPR Training ADULT CPR TRAINING Madison County Medical Reserve Corps appreciates the services and time that each and everyone one you put into our program to make it successful. To show how much we appreciated our volunteers, we offered a FREE Adult-CPR training that was held on Monday, May 7, 2007. We had eight volunteers that attended the training. The volunteers seemed as if they had a wonderful time. The volunteers were all certified for one year in adult-CPR. It was a valuable learning experience for the volunteers. In the near future, we will have more trainings such as this one, that you can come out and be a part of. Thank you to all of those volunteers that came out and supported this event. We look forward to seeing you at the future trainings. Phelon Williamson Americorps Volunteer Coordinator ADULT TRAINING CPR Madison County Reserve Corps Summer 2007-Page 2 Great News! SB 0404 passed the Senate. It awaits the governor's signature only! If you would like to view the bill, go to www.ilga.gov., look under Legislation & Laws, click on Bills and Resolutions, and SB0404. Below is a section of the Bill. We encourage everyone to read the entire bill at the website noted. Sec. 68. Disaster Relief Volunteers. Any firefighter, licensed emergency medical technician (EMT) as defined by Section 3.50 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, pharmacist, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, or nurse who in good faith and without fee or compensation provides health care services as a disaster relief volunteer shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct on the part of the person, in providing health care services, be liable to a person to whom the health care services are provided for civil damages. This immunity applies to health care services that are provided without fee or compensation during or within 10 days following the end of a disaster or catastrophic event. The immunity provided in this Section only applies to a disaster relief volunteer who provides health care services in relief of an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, nuclear attack, terrorist attack, epidemic, or pandemic without fee or compensation for providing the volunteer health care services. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to any health care facility as defined in Section 8-2001 of the Code of Civil Procedure or to any practitioner, who is not a disaster relief volunteer, providing health care services in a hospital or health care facility. Recruitment WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are still seeking volunteers for the newly formed Madison County Reserve Corps. We currently have 161 volunteers. We are far away from reaching our overall goal for 1,000 volunteers. In the event of a bio-terrorism emergency or another type of public health disaster, the Madison County Health Department has been designated as the agency to provide medication to the public to prevent disease. Volunteers will help with dispensing medication, restocking supplies, keeping the human traffic flow moving, and performing clerical duties. If you know anyone who wishes to participate and become a volunteer, please have them contact me. I will be more than happy to send them a volunteer packet and talk to them more about the program. Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation. Phelon Williamson- Americorps Volunteer Madison County Health Department 618-296-6096 Fax: (618) 692-8905 Email:plwilliamson@co.madison.il.us Madison County Reserve Corps Summer 2007-Page 3 Madison County Health Department 101 E. Edwardsville Rd Wood River, IL 62095 Tel: 618-692-8954 Fax: 618-692-8905 E-mail: dmtscheschlok@co.madison.il.us MRC- WHO ARE WE? Cont. Our MRC unit volunteers will be assisting public health employees in giving either oral medications or vaccines to prevent disease to the portion of our population impacted by the event. You will also be providing assistance to all areas of operations that make that possible, as in moving the supplies, helping with phone calls, keeping data collected and organized. Our MRC unit volunteers will not be involved in the treatment of disease, which is the responsibility of the hospitals and clinics. It is not our mission to supply the community with volunteers; however, you will be assigned to assisting the health department. Working for a government agency, such as the health department, allows for some tort protection. If you chose to help elsewhere, it will not be under the umbrella of this MRC unit. You can go to the national MRC website for more information. The website gives the impression that you will be doing a lot more, but that is not the case with our unit. You will be focused in the area of assisting the health department in its mission of preventing disease and perhaps some other missions yet not clearly defined that the health department may take on. Volunteers Debra Tscheschlok Emergency Response Coordinator Are You REady? SIMPLE AS 1 2 3: 1. Make an emergency kit -Get basics-food (enough for 3 days), water (1 gallon per person enough for 3 days), extra medication (if your are on medication), batterypowered or hand radio, flashlight, extra batteries, first aid kit, whistle, dust masks, moist towelettes, wrench or pliers, can opener for food, and local maps 2. Make a family plan -Make a plan for staying home or having to leave home, choose an out of town contact for family to call, find out what kind of disasters are most likely to occur in your area, and ask about emergency plans where your family spends time (work, school, daycare, recreation sites, and neighbors). 3. Be Informed -Listen for information about What to do and Where to go. Listen to your local radio and television stations. For more information please visit: www.ready.gov Madison County Reserve Corps Summer 2007-Page 4