| The University of Minnesota Medical Reserve Corps is a 969-member Corps of students, staff, and faculty from the U of M Academic Health Center and Boynton Health Service. The Academic Health Center includes 6 health professional schools (College of Pharmacy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry) and over a dozen interdisciplinary centers. Since its creation in the fall of 2004, the U of M MRC has been deployed three times.
In August 2007, members of the Mental Health Crisis Response Team, along with Physicians and Nurses were deployed to the Family Assistance Center during the 35W bridge collapse response.
Following the announcements of unexpected seasonal influenza vaccine shortages, the Minnesota Department of Health established an emergency hotline to answer questions from concerned citizens across the state. Call volume quickly escalated beyond existing capacity, and the U of M MRC, received a request to assist. Approximately 35 MRC student volunteers assisted with the hotline which was in operation for 31 business days. At its peek on October 19th, the hotline received 1,712 calls.
U of M MRC volunteers were also deployed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita through the American Red Cross and Minnesota Lifeline, a joint mission with the American Refugee Committee, Mayo Clinic, College of St. Catherine, and others. A total of 68 members traveled to the Gulf Coast Region, and many additional volunteers, and other U of M staff, assisted with the massive incident command and support activities in Minnesota over the course of 3 months. |
