How DOH is involved with volunteers at the local level?

All Florida MRC activities are approved by the local County Health Department (CHD) Director/Administrator.  Florida MRC units have participated in both “blue sky” and emergency response activities including Rotary and school health fairs, Fire rehab team equipment drills and responses, Glucose and blood pressure screenings at migrant camps, Radiation Response Volunteer Corps (RRVC) trainings and exercises, basic life support trainings, Free health clinics staffed by Florida MRC volunteer doctors and nurses, Mobile outreach clinics, Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) trainings, Special Needs Shelter exercises, 1st Annual MRC Day with Okeechobee, Indian River, Saint Lucie and Martin County MRC units. Medical skills training, mental health seminar, and moulage training, Bioterrorism training, B-FAST and C-FAST trainings, POD workshops and exercises, administrative support for Health and Medical Coalition workshops, First aid stations, and Pandemic table top exercises.

Florida MRC volunteers attended FIRST (Field Investigation Response and Surveillance Trainings), Shelter operations training with the American Red Cross, and provided MRC volunteers for Gasparilla Marathon first aid tents, Manatee MRC Mobile medical aid station with veterinary care capabilities, Swamphouse 5k marathon where MRC volunteers provided basic first aid for the following conditions that the runners presented with: skin burns, cuts and blisters, muscle spasms, and hypothermia, Provided MRC mentoring services to Health Care Students at Hodges University, Daytona 500 race. The MRC volunteers assisted by observing for suspicious packages that were left in the stands; monitoring for clusters of diseases/illnesses such as foodborne, and carbon monoxide poisoning; and, identifying race fans that required first aid station and medical assistance who were then referred to Halifax Health for treatment.

Florida MRC volunteers also work collaboratively with many DOH public health response partners including the American Red Cross, hospitals, county emergency management, law enforcement, and fire departments.  Volunteer membership is increasing steadily with the majority of MRC volunteers having health care licenses and the remainder being non-health care volunteers who are essential in supporting administrative functions.  MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers, health care practitioners and others, who want to donate their time and expertise to promote healthy living throughout the year and prepare for and respond to emergencies.