Northwest Medical Reserve Corps

The Northwest Medical Reserve Corps (NWMRC) is a force of dedicated volunteers who stand ready to support the community in the event of a public health emergency. 

We are composed of teams of medical and public health professionals who, along with interested community members, volunteer their skills, expertise and time to support ongoing public health initiatives and assist during emergencies in the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson and the City of Charlottesville.

Membership in the Northwest Medical Reserve Corps requires the following:

A. Completed application at https://vvhs.vamrc.org/ (Select "Thomas Jefferson" as the district you wish to serve, unless you live and/or work in a different area. Northwest MRC also covers the Central Shenandoah and Lord Fairfax Health Districts)
B. Copy of medical license (if applicable), FEMA training and/or certifications, government-issued ID
C. Volunteer Orientation and Initial Training.
D. Up-to-date contact information on file

Once the initial orientation and training is completed, the NWMRC member will be able to attend a variety of elective training opportunities/exercises that are offered during the year. Please take a moment to review our training schedule and calendar, read our FAQ’s and register to volunteer with the Northwest Medical Reserve Corps. We appreciate your time and interest and hope to have you as an active Northwest Medical Reserve Corps member in the near future!

Northwest MRC volunteers promote public health, disaster preparedness, and knowledge of emergency medicine to prepare their communities and other communities in the Thomas Jefferson Area (as well as in Central Shenandoah and Lord Fairfax). Volunteers complete FEMA ICS (Incident Command System) and NIMS (National Incident Management System) training in order to integrate effectively with public health staff and partner agencies in an emergency response or disaster response and recovery efforts.

In addition to training and train-the-trainer events to promote community resilience, we are looking for volunteers to fill the following roles:

• Community Outreach – Receive alerts and training for public health messaging, health communication/education, health equity, smoking cessation, health fairs & community events
• Instructor – Do you have expertise on a particular topic? We can work with you to develop an MRC training.
  • Specialized topic
  • BLS, CPR & AED
  • First Aid
  • Stop the Bleed or Until Help Arrives
  • REVIVE! Naloxone training
  • ICS Instructor
  • Preparedness
  • Disaster Behavioral Health
• Epidemiology Strike Team – Learn about the science of epidemiology and support the health district in tracking and responding to communicable disease outbreaks!
• Point of Dispensing (POD) Operations Team – Be a part of the team that provides vaccines, antibiotics, and other public health interventions to the community. Medical and non-medical volunteers needed.
• Vaccinator Strike Team – We need nurses (RN, LPN) and Pharmacists who are comfortable giving flu shots for fall flu vaccine dispensing exercises and pandemic responses! You can also complete training to administer MMR and Hep A vaccine to help us respond to epidemics!
• Shelter Medical Support (Licensed with DHP) – We need nurses, physicians, PA’s, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and more to help keep people healthy in an emergency shelter. Roles include:
  • Medical Consultation
  • Pharmacy Services
  • Medical/Nursing care support
  • Respiratory therapist
  • Veterinarian & Vet Tech
  • Hearing & Vision screening
• Shelter Non-Medical Support – There is a lot that highly trained, non-medical MRC volunteers can do to help support a public emergency shelter.
  • Cultural & Language Assistive Services – in *austere* conditions where language services are *scarce or unavailable,* a diverse group of volunteers with language skills and are comfortable working with diverse populations will be needed
  • Psychological First Aid/Disaster Behavioral Health
  • Shelter Registration
  • Shelter Logistics Support
• General Support – Receive alerts for most opportunities, no clinical training experience required
• Full-Scale Exercise Role-player – Participate in exercises to help local hospitals and governments assess their readiness to respond to a variety of emergencies. This is recommended for the first year as an MRC volunteer.
• Emergency Only – We get it, you’re really busy! We will only alert you for required drills and real emergencies. This category is usually reserved for licensed healthcare professionals.