Useful Links

 Galveston County Citizen Corps

Galveston County Health District

National MRC website

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a nationally recognized program composed of locally organized units throughout the US. MRC units are community-based and function as a way to organize and utilize volunteers who donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources. In Galveston County, we are the HEART-MRC and are based out of the Galveston County Health District.

Mission

The purpose of the HEART-MRC is to strengthen communities by establishing a system for medical and non-medical volunteers to offer their assistance throughout the year, as well as during times of community need.

 Objectives

1. Educate the community about individual and community preparedness through outreach and education.
2. Train volunteers to respond to emergency incidents and participate in community health events.
3. Participate in exercises with response partners to assess and improve community readiness.

Announcements 

 Recruitment Drive, May 1st - July 31st

 To Date: 54 new volunteers

   Let's get our communities MOVING...  Join the PALA Challenge Today!!

 To date, the HEART-MRC team has earned 111,297 points

  Frequently Asked Questions

Who can be a HEART-MRC volunteer? Anyone who resides and/or works in Galveston County can be a volunteer.

Do I have to be a healthcare professional in order to become a HEART-MRC volunteer? No. The HEART-MRC welcomes anyone who wishes to offer their time and services as a volunteer. In the event of a public health emergency, volunteers with many different skills will be needed.

What are some of the occupations of HEART-MRC volunteers? Volunteers have many different occupations that include doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, architects, administrative assistants, construction workers, retirees, and many others.

What are some of the roles that volunteers would play? Volunteer roles are based on the needs at the incident and the qualifications of volunteers. For example if volunteers were needed for a vaccination clinic, medically trained volunteers may help with screening patients, providing health referrals, or giving vaccinations. Non-medically trained volunteers may help with language translation services, crowd or traffic control, registration, or a host of other tasks. There are many of job duties for which volunteers could participate, depending on their qualifications and comfort level.

What are the types of activities for which HEART-MRC volunteers can participate? Some examples of activities that volunteers may be involved with include helping at a large vaccination or medication distribution clinic; helping to give out information to the community about the importance of hurricane preparedness; participating in a regional exercises with regional and state partners.

How much time are volunteers expected to devote to HEART-MRC? We are very mindful that volunteers have busy lives and may not be able to devote a lot of time; thus, being a HEART-MRC volunteer is not a huge time commitment. Training classes are offered to volunteers about every 3-4 months and they are usually offered after normal work hours. Besides this, volunteers can donate as much time as they have available to any event.  

Are there any costs associated with being a HEART-MRC volunteer? No, there are no financial costs associated with being a volunteer.

What are the benefits of being a HEART-MRC volunteer? Volunteers provide a valuable service to the Galveston County community and are recognized for their efforts. Volunteers receive training to prepare them to be able to respond during an emergency. Additionally, if there was a disease outbreak that required giving medications to or vaccinating large numbers of people (like in H1N1), volunteers and their immediate family would be one of the first people to receive it for the volunteer’s service.