The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is one of several components of Citizen Corps, USA Freedom Corps.  It is a network of community-based, citizen volunteer Medical Reserve Corps units, which have been initiated and established by people and institutions for use in their community.  MRC units provide training to health professionals and other interested persons to help strengthen their communities by preparing for and responding to large-scale emergencies, such as an influenza epidemic, chemical spill, or act of terrorism, as well as ongoing public health needs.

We are continuing to forge ahead in our community emergency preparedness and response plans.  Nationally, there is a big push for recruiting and credentialing volunteers to assist communities during a crisis.  The Defiance County MRC is working with the State of Ohio and other Ohio MRC programs to establish a standardized training and credentialing criteria for volunteers.  The benefit of this is that it would allow volunteers to assist communities outside their home community, if the volunteer so desires.

The State of Ohio and the National MRC office continue to work on legislation for liability coverage for volunteers.  The credentialing and the standardized training of the volunteers will be examined in the liability coverage issue. 

Any individual interested in participating in the MRC program should contact Cheryl Kehnast at 419-784-3818 or download an *application.

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