What is the Medical Reserve Corps?
The Fairfax MRC, a program administered by the Fairfax County Health Department, is an all volunteer program comprised of volunteers from medical and non-medical backgrounds that augment the capacity of the public health system to respond to large scale disasters such as bio-attacks or naturally occurring epidemics. MRC volunteers would staff dispensing sites in the community to provide medications or vaccines to the populace to keep them from becoming ill from biological agents such as anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia, viral hemorrhagic fever, or from a virulent strain of influenza.
In response to the outpouring of volunteer support in the days following September 11, 2001, the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a component of the Citizen Corps, USA Freedom Corps was created by President George W. Bush to foster volunteerism. It is a network of community-based, citizen volunteer Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units, which have been initiated and established by people and institutions for use in their own communities. Medical Reserve Corps units provide health care professionals and others an organized mechanism through which they can volunteer their time and skills to strengthen their communities by preparing for and responding to large- scale emergencies, such as an influenza epidemic, chemical spill, or act of terrorism. In addition, MRC unit volunteers work to improve the overall health and well being of their communities by engaging in appropriate public health initiatives throughout the year. Why a MRC? The first response to any disaster is a local response. Being pre
