Interested in volunteering with the Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps? Click here and click on "VA Volunteer Health System" on the left side of the page.
Volunteers Building Strong, Healthy and Prepared Communities
About MRC The Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a unit of local medical and non-medical volunteers who are ready to respond to public health emergencies and who strengthen the emergency preparedness and daily services of Alexandria Health Department.
We are always looking for people with a variety of backgrounds – medical, public health, emergency management, administrative, mental health, logistics, human resources, etc. In an emergency, the Alexandria Health Department cannot fulfill its mission without the help of its medical and non medical volunteers. Our volunteers can help give vaccines, greet people, support in data entry, provide childcare, offer administrative or emotional support and much more!
In addition to assisting during an emergency or disaster, our volunteers often help with day-to-day public health activities at the Alexandria Health Department. Many of our programs need volunteers to conduct surveys, provide health education or offer simple administrative support.
There are multiple levels of participation – after attending an initial two-hour orientation; it’s whatever time you can provide. To find out more, click on Levels of Participation.
Alexandria MRC Volunteers helped support a Community H1N1 Clinic at George Washington Middle School with volunteers and staff from Alexandria Health Department, Volunteer Alexandria, CERT, Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department, American Red Cross, and other community programs on Saturday October 31st. 1,500 tickets were distributed to community members standing in a line that reached around the building and down the sidewalk. The public mass clinic offered H1N1 vaccine to target populations identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over 150 MRC volunteer hours were committed to the October 31st clinic illustrating the continued commitment of MRC volunteers to the Alexandria community.
Friday, September 11th, 2009
Seasonal Flu Vaccine Clinic – T.C. Williams High School
Over 30 MRC volunteers staffed a 2-hour mass vaccination clinic in Alexandria on Friday, September 11th. A total of 585 doses of Seasonal Flu Vaccine were administered in 2 hours! Those receiving their vaccine included area students, faculty, community members, volunteers, elected city, state and federal officials, and other guests. Volunteers attended a briefing/training Thursday evening and came eager to work early Friday morning for volunteer check-in and site set-up. Check out the Virginia Point News for additional coverage.
Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius, Assistant Secretary Dr. Howard Koh, Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Remley, and Alexandria Health Director Dr. Lisa Kaplowitz spoke with participants about preparedness, seasonal and H1N1 flu, and the importance of vaccinations. They also met and thanked the MRC volunteers for their service and commitment to community resiliency in public health. After receiving their seasonal flu shots from MRC volunteers, Secretary Sebelius and Dr. Koh joined Dr. Kaplowitz and Alexandria MRC Volunteer, Andy Duncan, in a press briefing to discuss and answer questions about the MRC, the vaccination clinic, seasonal influenza, and the H1N1 virus.
Secretary Sebelius also announced the release of her video Call to Action (available on the http://www.flu.gov homepage), asking Americans to join the ranks of the Medical Reserve Corps! In this video, she notes that, "Right now, Medical Reserve Corps volunteers are critical to preparedness, response, and the fight against the flu." As we face what could be the most difficult influenza season in recent history, with the added risk of the H1N1 virus, Secretary Sebelius stressed that there has been no more important time to get vaccinated, to educate those around you about the flu, and to volunteer.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
November 8th Drill
A great big THANKS to all of you who participated in our drill with Arlington on Saturday, November 8, 2008. On this day both Arlington and Alexandria participated in a Medication Dispensing Exercise to test our ability to quickly provide medication to residents both within our jurisdictions and across our borders. We opened 2 non-medical dispensing sites in Arlington and 3 in Alexandria, all of which sit along our borders. In Alexandria, we used mostly MRC volunteers – 39 total – along with some Health Department staff. Arlington used MRC volunteers, supported by Arlington CERT volunteers and a number of Public Health staff. Arlington also pushed medication in the form of M&Ms and Skittles to Ft Myer. Alexandria also tested the push method by using CERT volunteers and volunteers from the Fire Department to deliver information at several apartment and condominium complexes. In Alexandria, a total of 758 households were seen, with 177 at all 3 sites and 581 through the push method.
While we did not see the numbers we would have liked in the public turnout, it was overall a very successful drill. We were afforded the opportunity to conduct training with MRC, use other partner agencies in our jurisdictions and test our plans. And now, it’s time to tackle the After Action Report…
New Online Database for Volunteers
We are using a new database called the Virginia Volunteer Health System or VVHS. It is an online database that we are required by the State to use since it automatically checks credentials for our healthcare providers. If you are already a registered MRC volunteer, your information will be uploaded into this database and you will receive an e-mail saying that you have been approved as a volunteer and will be asked to log in and change your password. We will be sending more detailed information about this to our listserv. New volunteers will now be able to register online without having to complete a paper application.
Volunteers Support Environmental Health Division
Last year our MRC volunteers were so successful in helping our Environmental Health Division deliver restaurant permits that we are looking at doing this again. A new twist is that we may ask volunteers to bring business preparedness and planning information with them when they go to restaurants so we can provide an education opportunity while delivering the permits!
Thank you for volunteering! Have a Happy Turkey Day!
August 6, 2008
Outreach
It’s summertime and the MRC has been out and about in the community, attending various events to conduct outreach on emergency preparedness and recruit more volunteers. A few events we have participated in and the volunteers that have helped out:
June 14th & 15th – Red Cross Waterfront Festival. Many thanks to MRC volunteers John Stephens, Chris Henry, Colleen Byrne, Amanda Rios, Stacey Swartz, Cyndi Jones, Tracy Tilghman, Racheal Lask and Carrie Nameth (who showed up just as the park was being evacuated due to the approaching storm!) and to Citizen Corps volunteers Andy Hall, Brian Jacobson, Pierre Paret and Dave Worrall for all helping out at our booth.
August 2nd – Friendship Firehouse Festival. Thanks to Michael Lake, Laura Annetta, David Boxer and Colleen Byrne for helping out at our booth (we finally got t-shirts and of course I forgot to take pictures!).
August 5th – National Night Out in Del Ray. Thanks to Cyndi Jones, Fran Middleberg, Rebecca Kudla and Colleen Byrne for manning our booth while I helped serve food. I remembered to take pictures this time and the shirts look great!
Upcoming 2008 Events – mark your calendar for these additional opportunities for outreach and recruiting and look for more details in your e-mail:
Saturday, August 23rd – Back to School Event at Cora Kelly, 12pm to 4pm
Sunday, September 14th – Dog Walk, Olde Towne School for Dogs, 9am to 11am (part of Be Ready Alexandria 2008)
Saturday, September 27th – Multicultural and Health Fair at Cora Kelly, 11am to 5pm (part of Be Ready Alexandria 2008)
Sunday, September 28th - World Rabies Day at Ben Brenman Park, 9am to 1pm (part of Be Ready Alexandria 2008)
Training
Next orientation – Thursday, August 14, 2008 from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact me if you’d like to sign up. Orientation will be held at the Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King Street, 4th floor, Alexandria, VA 22302.
November 8th Drill Training is scheduled for 2 different days (only need to attend one) – Friday, September 12th from 1pm to 3pm and Saturday, September 20th from 9am to 11am. Once we have confirmed locations, we will send those out. This training is for MRC volunteers who want to staff sites on Saturday, November 8, 2008.
Psychological First Aid - Our PFA task force with Arlington has been busy and after giving their pilot training in April, gave their first official class on June 7th. It was a success and we appreciate the Alexandria Red Cross chapter offering their classroom for our use. The next class is scheduled for Saturday, October 18th. More details will be sent out soon.
NIMS/ICS Courses – Have you had trouble completing the required IS-100 and IS-700 courses online? The Health Department is offering these course to their staff in-class and will be opening these course up to Active MRC volunteers (in order to attend, you must have attended an orientation session). I will be sending dates and times via e-mail.
Next orientation – Monday, May 12, 2008 from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact me if you’d like to sign up. Orientation will be held at the Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King Street, 4th floor, Alexandria, VA 22302.
CPR Update – We have had some staffing changes at our local Red Cross Chapter but in the next month or so, we should be sending out e-mails about upcoming courses. Seating is limited for these courses so be sure to reply as soon as possible if you are interested in signing up. Notification of course dates will be sent via e-mail.
Saturday, May 10, 2008 – We will be at the Fair at Landmark Mall from 12 noon to 2pm. Feel free to stop by if you are in the neighborhood!
Red Cross Waterfront Festival, Saturday, June 14th & Sunday June 15th – We are looking for volunteers to help at our booth both days. If you are interested, please contact me directly.
March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Alexandria Volunteer Bureau is testing their ability to stand up a Volunteer Reception Center where they process spontaneous volunteers who want to help in an emergency or disaster. The event will be from 9am to 12pm, but you can come for just an hour if you like. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Alexis Grant at agrant@alexandriavolunteerbureau.org to sign up.
Our Arlington-AlexandriaPsychological First Aid Task Force has been working hard since January to put together PFA training which we hope to roll out this summer. Stay tuned for more details.
Next orientation – Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 10am to 12pm. Please contact me if you’d like to sign up. Orientation will be held at the Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King Street, 4th floor, Alexandria, VA 22302.
CPR courses are now being offered through the Alexandria Red Cross Chapter. Seating is limited for these courses so be sure to reply as soon as possible if you are interested in signing up. Notification of course dates will be sent via e-mail.
Earth Day! Saturday, April 26, 2008, 10am to 2pm, Ben Brenman Park. Details at http://www.alexearthday.org/earthday_activities_new.html. We will have a table with our Environmental Health Department to recruit volunteers. If you are interested in helping out, let me know.
SAVE THE DATE!Saturday, November 8, 2008 we are doing a drill with Arlington to test our non-medical dispensing sites. Yes, we are planning this far in advance! We will definitely need all of your help with this.
*NOTE – if you have not been receiving regular e-mail updates from the Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps, please contact me to make sure we have correct information on file.
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