What is the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps?
The Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a community-based, civilian, volunteer program that helps build the public health infrastructure and response capabilities of communities in Maryland. Maryland Responds is composed of dedicated Responders who stand ready to volunteer their skills, expertise and time to support ongoing public health initiatives and to assist during emergencies. Maryland Responds, previously known as the Maryland Professional Volunteer Corps, is administered by the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) Office of Preparedness and Response (OP&R).
Who are Maryland Responders?
Maryland Responders are dedicated volunteers who stand ready to respond to the public health needs of our community. Whether it’s responding to a natural disaster or helping community members prepare for flu season, Maryland Responders are Ready for Anything. Maryland Responders include medical and public health professionals, such as physicians, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians and epidemiologists. Many other non-medical community members also support the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps, such as interpreters, chaplains, office workers, and legal advisors. Everyone has a role in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies! Click HERE to view occupation categories.
What do Maryland Responders do?
Maryland Responders may deliver a variety of necessary public health services during a crisis, such as providing care directly to individuals seeking medical or mental health attention at disaster relief shelters. Volunteers may also serve a vital role by assisting their communities with ongoing public health needs (e.g., immunizations, screenings, health and nutrition education, volunteering in community health centers and local hospitals).
What kind of time commitment does membership require?
Being a member of Maryland Responds does not require or imply 24‐hour availability – your decision to participate in any activity is voluntary. While there is no binding agreement regarding your length of service with Maryland Responds, we hope you consider your membership a serious commitment. Due to the investment of time, training, and resources that is dedicated to each of our members, we encourage you to remain active with Maryland Responds and participate in as many emergency response and public health activities as possible.
How does the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps benefit the community?
The Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps provides several benefits to the community. Major local emergencies can overwhelm the capability of first responders, especially during the first 12-72 hours. Having citizens who are prepared to take care of themselves, their families and others during times of crises will allow first responders to focus their efforts on the most critical life-threatening situations. An organized and well-trained Medical Reserve Corps unit translates into volunteers who can effectively respond to an emergency, are familiar with their community’s response plan, know that materials are available for their use, recognize partners in the response area and know where their skills can be utilized to their best advantage in a coordinated manner. Additional benefits of the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps to the community include:
- Enhances Maryland’s emergency preparedness and response capabilities by augmenting county and state-level public health and medical services with a source of pre-identified, credentialed and trained volunteers.
- Enables communities to meet specific health needs and affords the local community more autonomy by reducing the dependence on state and national resources.
- Gives community members the opportunity to participate in developing strategies to make their communities healthier and safer.
- Enables dialogue between emergency management and public health agencies.
- Provides a collaborative atmosphere for information sharing and coordination among response partners.
FAQs- Click HERE for frequently asked questions.
Ready to Register?
Membership is open to anyone over 18 years of age who is interested in promoting public health and assisting in the event of an emergency.
For live-person assistance with registering, please fill out this form below and the Washington County Local Unit Administrator will be in contact to help you through the process.
WCHD will also be in-person at the following Training Events to assist will registering interested individuals.
Community members are encouraged to register in advance using the online signup form to reserve their spot.
Registration is available at: https://www.signupgenius.com/
Register Online Yourself
You can register yourself online at https://mdresponds.health.maryland.gov/
Watch a video walk-through of how to register for Maryland Responds and complete the Road to Readiness.
