| Last updated on 2008-09-09 14:09:09 |
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Military Service Organizations and Veterans Service Organizations
September 13,2005 Disaster preparedness and response was the focus of the September 2005 VSO/MSO Roundtable meeting. On very short notice, our two programmed speakers were deployed to the Gulf Coast in response to Hurricane Katrina. We were fortunate that the director of the Medical Reserve Corps, Commander Robert Tosatto, was able to address the group with very timely information. Commander Robert Tosatto, R.Ph., M.P.H., M.B.A., serves as director of the Medical Reserve Corps Program in the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General. He is responsible for overseeing the establishment, implementation and coordination of Medical Reserve Corps units in communities across the United States. In his presentation, Tosatto explained that the Medical Reserve Corps was founded in 2002 after President Bush's State of the Union address when he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of the nation. A specialized component of the Citizen Corps, the Medical Reserve Corps is a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Volunteers include medical professionals and others who donate their time and expertise to promote healthy living throughout the year and respond to emergencies. Each MRC unit is unique, Commander Tosatto said, as composition is based on community needs. General guidelines are available on the MRC's website, www.medicalreservecorps.gov. Any government agency or non-profit organization can sponsor a unit and partnerships are the key to success and sustainability, he said. Following Commander Tosatto's presentation, Dr. Kilpatrick provided an update of DoD activity in response to Hurricane Katrina and attendees described their organization's response to the disaster. During the outreach update, Ms. Goodno explained that the National Personnel Records Center now provides an on-line customized order form for servicemembers and families to get copies of military personnel records. This service may be especially important to those Gulf Coast families who have lost copies of their military records. The next roundtable meeting will be held Thursday, October 27, at 10 a.m. in the Falls Church fourth floor conference room.
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