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Medical Reserve Corps - Northern NH Unit
North Country Health Consortium
646 Union St., Ste 400
Littleton, NH 03561

Hello everyone, from the Northern New Hampshire Unit of the Medical Reserve Corps--

Thanks for your patience - there have been numerous requests for information. Below is a summary to date of the situation, and some links for places to go to get more information.

Right now, Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is coordinating with two relief efforts: one through the American Red Cross (ARC), and another through Health and Human Services. These are outlined below.

Many requests have come in from new volunteers wanting to be directed how to help in this crisis. MRC is acting as both a liaison between NH people and volunteer opportunities and a check point to assure that volunteers have been through the minimum credentialing process when registering with a national organization.

New volunteers MUST have an MRC application completed and on file with their applicable NH license and certification numbers filled in order to be eligible to apply through the ARC as an MRC volunteer. In some cases, folks are being referred back to their local unit when applying to be deployed.

For more information about MRC nationally, refer to the MRC website. For information about the Northern NH Unit, updated material will be available shortly on our local web site.

Please do not self-deploy. These are potentially unsafe environments, and spontaneous volunteers will only add to the problems. There is going to be a long-term need, and supplemental medical, public health and other volunteers will be necessary for a long time.

MRC Support for American Red Cross Disaster Operations

See the latest round of Frequently Asked Questions (WORD-350 KB). The application packet is available through you local MRC unit, and you can contact Nicole LaPointe for those forms via email or in print. If you have questions regarding anything in the Application Packet or the process in general, call the MRC Liaison at ARC at 202-303-5644 or email at hs-mrc@usa.redcross.org. As mentioned above, ARC is relying on the local MRC units to pre-credential volunteers, so if you have any doubt about your membership and eligibility, please contact Nicole as well.

The ARC has been getting a tremendous influx of volunteers, and combined with the fact that they have been short-staffed, they have been unable to enter a lot of the new volunteers into their database. We are going to assist ARC staff with some data entry tomorrow so we can further help get the MRC volunteers on their way.

MRC Support for HHS Hurricane Katrina Recovery Efforts

See the Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Care Professionals and Relief Personnel Volunteer Page for information and an application, or call 1-866-KATMEDI. The Office of The Surgeon General and the office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness are in the process of mobilizing and identifying healthcare professionals and relief personnel to assist in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. As our nation and global community is now aware, the healthcare needs resulting from Katrina are critical.

There is an on-line application for opportunities through Health and Human Services. Medical Reserve Corps feels that volunteers with specific medical training will be utilized to the fullest extent by participating with HHS. You can click on this link to apply:
https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov

Many health professionals who want to help and have signed up on the site, but have not yet been contacted for activation. You should all know that there have been over 100,000 hits on the website, almost 20,000 online applications submitted, and over 12,000 calls to the hotline (866-KATMEDI). As I'm sure you can imagine, it takes time to process these applications. They are being brought on as "Intermittent Federal Employees" (unpaid, but with FTCA coverage) so they have to go through human resources processes, and, as health professionals, they need further processing to verify their credentials. This is absolutely required for them to practice and receive legal protections through the Federal government. I know that the credentialing and human resources staff have been working around the clock to process these applications. I understand that many people are frustrated because they want to help NOW. Please be patient. This is going to be a long-term effort.

The Department of Health and Human Services is currently looking for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and relief personnel with expertise in the following areas:

• Administration/Finance Officers
• Chaplains
• Clinical Physicians
• Dentists
• Dieticians
• Epidemiologists
• Environmental Health
• Facility Managers
• Housekeepers
• IT/Communications Officers
• LPNs
• Medical Clerks
• Mental Health Workers
• Nursing Assistants/Nursing Support Technicians
• Nursing Staff Directors
• Patient Transporters/Volunteers
• Pharmacists
• Psychologists
• Physician's Assistants or Nurse Practitioners
• Physician Chiefs of Staff
• Respiratory Therapists
• Registered Nurses
• Safety Officers
• Security Officers
• Social Workers
• Supply Managers
• Veterinarians

Thank you again for your caring and for your patience. Please contact me with any questions and I will respond as soon as possible.

Nicole LaPointe, MSW
Community & Public Health Director
North Country Health Consortium
7 Main Street, Suite 7
Whitefield, NH 03598
(T) 603-837-2519
(V) 603-837-2653 ext 225
(F) 603-837-9451
nlapointe@nchcnh.org