RRMRC: pandemic prepared

Scouts aren’t the only group that believe in being prepared. Volunteers with the Rappahannock-Rapidan Medical Reserve Corps (RRMRC) are ready to give their time to the community and are prepared to respond if Orange County becomes the scene of a public health emergency.
The local unit, organized in 2003, is one of 27 in the state, and 800 in the country. All units are part of the national Medical Reserve Corps program, which is under the direction of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office.
Close to home, in Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Planning District Commission 9, (which includes Culpeper Fauquier Orange, Madison, and Rappahannock counties), 325 volunteers from medical experts to clergy to community members with no medical training at all, are at the ready to administer medications or dispense information in the event of a widespread outbreak.
In recent weeks, a swine flu scare held the attention of the world. While that particular threat never really materialized, it’s precisely the sort of thing-or Anthrax, or small pox-that RRMRC volunteers are trained to handle. And until volunteers are needed to save lives, they keep their skills sharp with practice drills.
“We do the flu drive-through as a practice drill,“ RRMRC Volunteer Coordinator Claudio Vento said. “We practice handing out medications.“
Dispensing sites can be outdoors, like the flu drive-through vaccinations, or indoors, Vento explained. Either way, volunteers who participate in drills are trained in a variety of skills, from chemical agents to pandemics. Volunteers also make presentations to help folks understand the importance of personal and family preparedness in a wide scale health crisis.
Orange County husband and wife volunteer team Carol and Mike Roddy each have different skills to donate to the RRMRC. She has a medical background as a registered nurse; he’s a well-versed business manager. She joined the Medical Reserve Corps after attending one of Vento’s presentations at Lake of the Woods. He joined later, after Carol admitted she “dragged him to a meeting.“
But now, as properly oriented and well-trained volunteer members of the Medical Reserve Corps, both Carol and Mike Roddy have essential training and abilities to help the community in the event of a public health emergency. And, just as importantly, they’re enjoying the trainings and the time they are contributing to the community through volunteering with the RRMRC.
“I’m a nurse and I’m retired, so it’s a natural thing for me to do,“ Carol Roddy explained. “The Medical Reserve Corps makes sense for nurses. But to do what the Medical Reserve does, you need people from all backgrounds and of all persuasions.“
“I’m as non-medical as you get,“ Mike Roddy confirmed. He said he joined the corps after learning how the organization operated, and about the service it provides. “It just seemed like something we could do to help out and give back. We have time and we enjoy doing it,“ he said. “We’ve learned an awful lot-from bomb recognition to epidemiology.“
Mike Roddy, participates by putting his management and supervision skills to use at dispensing sites. At a recent flu shot drive-through drill held at the Orange County Airport, Roddy was in charge of coordinating the event as dispensing site manager.
“It’s not that hard to do,“ he said modestly. And neither are the meetings, the coordination of efforts and delegations of tasks and responsibilities required to plan the logistics for a widespread viral outbreak, for instance.
In an emergency, Mike Roddy said, the number of community members who are affected or at risk is impossible to predict. “It’s best to get things worked out before hand,“ he said.
Vento said more folks like Carol and Mike Roddy are vital to the RRMRC’s successful efforts, whether volunteers have a medical professional background or not.
“We need volunteers who are willing to help out in whatever is needed,“ she said. That could be transporting equipment and materials, managing paperwork or dispensing medications. Community members of any background who join the RRMRC have something to offer.
“Ideally, it would be wonderful to have 1,000 [volunteers],“ Vento said. “We need a lot more people.“
All that’s required for membership is a completed application, a completed background check, and volunteer orientation and initial training and when applicable, a copy of a medical license, liability, and HIPAA.
There’s more information at http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov, or by calling Vento at (540)829-7350 ext.132