Medical Reserve Corps: Lessons learned in supporting community health and emergency response

The introduction of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) programme in President Bush's 2002 State of the Union address was in response to the need to provide a platform for local medical and health professionals to volunteer in their local communities in times of need. In such times, local community-based MRC units would work with existing public health and emergency management resources to create programmes to organise and recruit volunteers to support community needs. Now over five years old, the MRC programme has grown from 166 units as part of a demonstration project to almost 700 local units with more than 127,000 volunteers. In addition, the programme has evolved into a community health response resource that is used throughout the year, not just during times of great need. This paper will discuss the background and concept of the MRC programme, as well as describe how interested individuals and communities can get involved. The paper will also highlight the types of activities in which MRC units are involved and lessons learned.