The Suffolk County Medical Reserve Corps is recruiting a cadre of volunteer medical professionals. These volunteers will serve to augment the Suffolk County healthcare system should that system be overwhelmed by a natural or man-made event. Additionally these volunteers will allow medical professionals to be developed, trained and deployed in a coordinated and controlled manner to support public health and emergency preparedness efforts.

How Can I Volunteer

To Volunteer for the Suffolk County MRC, click here and register After clicking the link, please select " I don't have an HCS user Account". Create a personal account ID for Ny.gov. Log back into the account and scroll down to the health application icon located on your dashboard. After click the link, click on ServNY. That will prompt a privacy policy, after reading the policy you can then input your information for a ServNY Profile. Any issues please email  FRESmrc@suffolkcoutnyny.gov.

What Comes Next?

After your registration is completed and you are accepted into the volunteer program, we will send a welcome email containing important resources, free CME opportunities and other pertinent information. At the bottom of this page is a blue tab for members to log in to our MRC Membership Page.

In the event of an emergency, the Suffolk County Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services would contact you by phone, or send a text message to your cellular phone to let you know where to respond in your community. Please make sure your contact information is active and up to date.

Overview

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was founded after President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. It is a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security.

Citizen Corps, along with AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps are all part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service throughout the nation.

MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies, and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources.

MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists. Many community members - interpreters, chaplains, office workers, legal advisors, and others – can fill key support positions.

MRC units are provided specific areas to target that strengthen the public health infrastructure of their communities by U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona. VADM Carmona has outlined his priorities for the health of individuals, and the nation as a whole, which also serve as a guide to the MRC. The overarching goal is to improve health literacy, and in support of this he wants us to work towards increasing disease prevention, eliminating health disparities, and improving public health preparedness.

MRC volunteers can choose to support communities in need nationwide. When the southeast was battered by hurricanes in 2004, MRC volunteers in the affected areas and beyond helped communities by filling in at local hospitals, assisting their neighbors at local shelters, and providing first aid to those injured by the storms. Over this two month period, more than 30 MRC units worked as part of the relief efforts, including those whose volunteers were called in from across the country to assist the American Red Cross and FEMA.

For additional information contact:

Suffolk County Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services