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MRC Facts

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was founded after President Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. It is a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps, are all part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service throughout the nation.

MRC units are community-based and function as a way to organize locally and utilize volunteers who want to 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.

MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, and epidemiologists. Many community members-interpreters, chaplains, office workers, legal advisors, and others-can also fill key support positions in MRCs.

MRCs are organized by cities and towns or regions. At this time, MRCs are housed in City and Town health offices, hospitals, universities and emergency medical services locations. Most of the MRCs work with other local and regional emergency preparedness groups.