Disasters can be scary, especially if you are living alone, are elderly or disabled, or are dependent on oxygen, health care staff, medications or electricity.
But Don’t Stay Scared…GET PREPARED!
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as other community members without healthcare backgrounds.
MRC units engage our volunteers improve emergency response capabilities, and build community resiliency by preparing for and responding to natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, and floods, as well as other emergencies affecting public health, such as disease outbreaks.
In order for us to be better prepared to help Islanders and visitors, we should know as much as possible in advance about the help people will need.
We are developing a questionnaire with the kind of information we are interested in. We do not want people to feel that they must answer all or even any of these questions: this is a purely opt-in effort, and it’s up to you what you choose to share or whether you choose to participate at all.
The questionnaire will let us know if you are:
- dependent on medical equipment requiring electricity,
- require daily care visits,
- are mobility-impaired,
- are otherwise disabled,
- depend on shipments from off-Island of life-sustaining drugs,
- have other functional and behavioral needs.
The information you share will be kept in strict medical confidentiality, and will be handled by our volunteer coordinator, Karen MacPhail RN, to be shared only as absolutely needed, for example, if we need to help you evacuate to a safe location.
We plan to have the questionnaire available on this website by July 1. If you prefer to go over this verbally or have specific questions for us, please feel free to reach out to Marina Lent at the Chilmark Health Department 508-645-2105, or MRC volunteer coordinator Karen MacPhail at kkelenosy@aol.com.
We’re here to help if you need us…
Dr. Michael D. Wertheimer, MRC Medical Director
Karen MacPhail, RN, MRC Volunteer Coordinator
Contact Information
Contact: Karen MacPhail
Email: kkelenosy@aol.com
Website: https://mrc.hhs.gov/HomePage