Medical Reserve Corps recruiting in Taylor County

The Taylor County Medical Reserve Crops (MRC) unit is looking for volunteers to join their ranks.

“Medical Reserve Corps is a nationally recognized volunteer organization to help in response to crisis situations,” said Melissa Moore, public health foundationalist. There are more than 300,000 MRC volunteers nationwide.

Moore and the health department coordinated with Daniel Gellert, emergency management director, to establish the organization. Funds for Taylor County MRC come from a two-year, $110,000 ($55,000 each year) federal grant, MRC-STTRONG, which was awarded the fall of 2023.

Per their official packet, “Taylor County MRC’s purpose is to recruit, retain, and reengage trained professionals and volunteers to respond in the event of public health or other community emergency in order to protect the health and safety of all residents and visitors throughout Taylor County.”

Taylor County MRC is seeking volunteers of a variety of backgrounds to support their mission. Ideally, the volunteers will be a mix of medical professionals and nonprofessionals so the organization is equipped to respond to the wide range of situations that may arise.

On what a response scene may look like, Moore wrote, “Taylor County MRC volunteers will be deployed to wherever they are needed! This may be on the front lines in an emergency response, or in a supportive role in instances like sheltering and reunification following an event.”

Regardless of whether a volunteer falls under the professional or nonprofessional category, they will be trained to ensure that they have basic skills to respond in the event of an emergency. “We've got a list of different trainings that people if they're part of this will be able to access at no cost to them,” Moore stated. The trainings will include “things like Stop the Bleed, basic CPR or basic life saving skills.” Other trainings listed in the MRC packet are Crisis and Emergency Response Team, Naloxone/ overdose prevention trainings, secondary traumatic stress, and QPR suicide prevention program.

In addition to the trainings, volunteers will be in monthly communication with the MRC to stay engaged with the organization and prepared for an emergency. Regular engagement could look like helping with routine activities, such as running flu vaccine clinics.

As MRC is a national organization, Taylor County MRC is joining a network of units that provides “kind of like a mutual aid,” Gellert said. Volunteers from Taylor County could be asked to assist in other locations, and if Taylor County has a major event, other units could come to the area to bolster the emergency response.

The Taylor County MRC is entering its second year of existence. Most of the first year was spent obtaining approval at the federal, regional, and state levels. Now, the Taylor County MRC is focusing on recruitment. They currently have more than 20 volunteers of both medical and non-medical backgrounds.

To fill out an interest form, email mrc@co.taylor.wi.us or visit bit.ly/TaylorCountyMRC online.