By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

To prepare Central Nebraska for times of disaster, representatives of the Tri-Cities Medical Response System are calling for volunteers to help create a Medical Reserve Corps.

The response system is a collaboration of hospitals, public health departments, emergency management and city government representatives in Central Nebraska. It deals primarily with policy and plan development as it helps the area prepare for public health emergencies, said Loren Uden, Adams County emergency management director.

The Medical Reserve Corps will be made up of the "doer bees," Uden said, and will implement the system's plans when disaster strikes.

Ideally, the corps will be composed of several hundred medical workers receptionists, paramedics, doctors, physician assistants, registered nurses, veterinarians, pharmacists and the like from a 23-county area, said Shelly Boden, assistant director of the Adams County Emergency Management Agency.

There's also a need for nonmedical volunteers, such as interpreters, chaplains, office workers and legal advisers.

Those involved will be trained in emergency response and will assist existing emergency and public health resources as they respond to disasters or assist with community outreach efforts, Boden said. Their goal is to help provide for community medical needs when primary workers and agencies become stretched and strained.

"Basically, when a disaster occurs, the number of professionals that we're going to have in our area to be able to treat the victims and the citizens is very limited," Uden said.

Volunteers who have been trained and qualified to help with the corps can be easily organized and matched with community needs. During times of disaster, the corps should allow victims to get the medical care they need more quickly.

Corps members could be called up for a pandemic, weather-related disaster, health fair, major event or a number of other reasons, she said.

Those who become a part of the corps will be notified of emergencies by a contact service in Buffalo County.

To be eligible for membership, volunteers must undergo an application process, background check and interview.

They must also complete National Incident Management System or Hospital Incident Command System training, as well as community emergency response team training. All necessary instruction will be free, Boden said.

"We know their time is very valuable," Boden said, "so we try to do one or two days of training so we're not really tying them up."

Funding for the corps is being provided by federal grants, Uden said. There are six Medical Reserve Corps regions being set up in Nebraska.

Organizers hope that they'll have amassed a group large enough to conduct a training session for the Central Nebraska corps this summer, Boden said.

That way, Central Nebraska can be better prepared to provide health care services in times of disaster.

"It becomes a very strong need to have a group go out and set up and help with those services that are overwhelmed," Boden said.