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Medical Reserve Corps Newsletter Vol. I (April 5, 2002)

Thank you for your interest in the Medical Reserve Corps. We are in the initial stages of developing this program and will be providing you with additional information and resources as we progress. As you may know, the volunteer Medical Reserve Corps is one of the national programs that is a part of Citizen Corps. It will provide local communities with volunteer health professionals who can assist emergency health care workers during large-scale emergencies. During those emergencies, volunteers could assess and monitor the condition of patients and counsel patients. In addition, the volunteers could perform support and management activities such as inventory and distribute pharmaceuticals, supplies and facilitate patient transfers.

Volunteers may also play an important role in the public health life of the community throughout the year. Some examples include distributing educational materials, assisting with health education and providing support to ongoing community health efforts. Volunteers would be either currently practicing or retired health care professionals.

We are anticipating the program will be ready to launch sometime during the Summer 2002. The Department of Health and Human Services, which will be administering the Medical Reserve Corps, is preparing a guidebook to assist communities develop their own volunteer Medical Reserve Corps. It is directed toward state, county and community health leaders, health and related organizations, hospitals and health facilities in communities, and to non-governmental organizations. The guidebook describes how a community can work with existing federal, state, county and local emergency response and medical resources to define needs and match those needs with the volunteer capabilities. The guidebook also will address such issues as liability, licensure and training for local volunteer health professionals.

Please check the www.citizencorp.gov website for updates to Medical Reserve Corps and the other Citizens Corps program.