Held December 8, 2022
“The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. The MRC network comprises 800 community-based units and over 300,000 volunteers located throughout the United States and its territories”
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There have been several units to come and go in the State of Maine since the inception of the MRC program; as of 2015 there were only two units left in the state. The Northeastern Maine MRC (unit 115)—one of the oldest units in the country—and the Cumberland County MRC (unit 2440) were the two remaining units ready to serve the people of Maine during times of public health emergency.
While Maine’s Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (also known as ESAR-VHP or simply as Maine Responds) saw record numbers of volunteers across the State registering during the COVID-19 public health emergency, we recognized that there is a strong benefit to also organizing more regionally and support volunteers with a more local structure in addition to the State structure that Maine Responds provides. Maine MRC intends to reengage volunteers in each of Maine’s public health districts that currently are not being served by a Medical Reserve Corps Unit. The aim is to recruit from within local communities and through Maine Responds to grow and develop new leaders and supportive unit members. The first step in this process is to identify those volunteers interested in learning more about leadership opportunities, and agencies and organizations equally interested in potentially housing an MRC unit. If you are interested and want to learn more, please submit your interest on the Contact Us page.
Each of Maine’s MRC members still registers with the State as an ESAR-VHP volunteer through Maine Responds and in the case of a multi-jurisdictional or statewide response Maine’s MRC teams are already integrated with the state’s volunteer program. Maine Responds volunteers may be requested to deploy outside of Maine at the request of other states, nearby provinces, or upon federal request. Maine MRC teams are ready to join in such a response and to proudly serve alongside other responding organizations in an integrated and holistic approach.
For more information on the Medical Reserve Corps on a national level please visit the Medical Reserve Corps homepage.