MRC Community Events

Larry Arp, Judy Bencker, Linda Casey, Mary Grayson, Alane Jespersen, Jim Lewandowski, Ron Myers, Lisa Reichter, Bonnie Riley, Karen Schliefert, Sue Trigg, Dallas Vogt , and Sandy Vyhlidal provided first aid at the MS Society of Nebraska's annual 2-day bike ride from Omaha to Lincoln and back. Ron and Larry had the most serious incident, responding to a biker who fell and broke his collarbone. MRC Medical Director Dr. Theresa Hatcher served as the event’s medical director.

· Mary Grayson, Angela Hildenbrandt, Jeffrey Hildenbrandt, Ray Honaker and Sue Trigg provided first aid and other help at the Nebraska Alliance for the Mentally Ill’s Annual Walk.

· Larry Arp, Lisa Beacom, Judy Bencker, Linda Casey, Mary Virginia Corkle, Erin Denker, Bonnie Dollen, Dr. Brian Finley, Helen Fouraker, Beth Fuhlrodt, Pat Fuller, Mary Grayson, Dave Hanel, Josh Hemmelman, Jeffrey Hildenbrandt, Alane Jespersen, Michelle LeDroit, Jim Lewandowski, Kevin Marking, Terry Miller, Terry Munsinger, Dr. George Pratt, Bonnie Riley, Salli Roberts, Dr. Chuck Rush, Elaine Schurr, Barb Shapiro, Bob Smith, David Smith, Dawn Thomas, Geri Thomas, Milton Trabal, Sue Trigg, Sandy Vyhlidal and Josh Wilson provided over 400 hours of first aid service at the College World Series, assisting the Omaha Fire Department with this annual effort. Dehydration and falls were the most common issues.

· Greg Bennett, John Norton and Judy Ueda assisted with an STD testing at the Charles Drew Health Center. STDs are a big health concern in this area, especially among teens and young adults.

· The Nebraska Mission of Mercy, a two-day free dental clinic, provided service to almost 1,500 area residents. MRC volunteers Greg Bennett, Jeannie Bennett, Paula Danekas, Alekha Dash, Donna Eckman, Michele Faulkner, Ken Hermsen, Jim Jenkins, Linda Keating, Kathy Mersch, Frances Moore, Narayana Nagamani, Bill Neff, Linda Ohri and Elaine Schurr assisted with the huge and much-needed project, contributing almost 200 hours of assistance.

· Helen Fouraker, Josh Hemmelman, Helen Fouraker and Michele LeDroit conducted blood pressure screenings for participants of the Nebraska Behavioral Health Confernce.

Thanks to all MRC members for their service. In addition to providing a community service, participation in these opportunities also allows members to practice skills, get to know other MRC volunteers and community partners and connects them with the MRC. If you haven’t volunteered, please consider doing so. Your presence is a great asset to the MRC!

Call Down Drills

Each month we are calling 1/12th of our volunteers to see if they could respond if we had a disaster. If you have not been contacted, you will be in the next few months. Last month, 67 percent of those contacted responded and 61 percent indicated they could have helped had it been a real disaster.

If you do get a different email address or phone number, please let us know so we can contact you.

New Initiatives

· Fourteen MRC volunteers have agreed to help provide clerical support to the morgue in the event of a disaster involving multiple deaths.

· Six volunteers will provide immunization information at area health events. Thanks to Linda Ohri, who is conducting the training.

· Fourteen volunteers have offered to staff a health help line if needed. The recent flu issues prompted the concept. Volunteers will be trained in September.

· Chandra Petersen, Christy Saufley, Deb Winkler and Robin Zagurski are assisting with development of a Behavioral Health initiative the MRC can provide at area health fairs. The focus is building resiliency.

If you are interested in helping with any of these initiatives, please call Tom at (402) 522-7970.

Online Bloodborne Pathogen Training

Free online training on this topic is available on the United Way of the Midlands website. To complete the PowerPoint course, click right here.    CEUs are provided. Thanks to Sandy Vyhlidal, one of our MRC volunteers who developed the course, which is now offered nationwide.

Online NIMS Training

In order to be an active MRC member, you must complete National Incident Management Systems 100a and 700a. This is a federal requirement. You can access NIMS 100a at http://emilms.fema.gov/IS100A/index.htm ---  and NIMS 700a at http://emilms.fema.gov/IS700a/index.htm.

After you have completed the courses, forward a copy of your certificate so we can document it. If you have any questions, let Tom know by calling (402) 522-7970 or emailing him at tmcmahon@uwmidlands.org.

QUARTERLY TRAINING:

Forty MRC Volunteers participated in Triage Training this past quarter. Beth Beam of UNMC’s HEROES program and Robin Zagurski and Bill Holtmeyer, behavioral health professionals facilitated the training. Following is an article by Nicole Lindquist that appeared in UNMC’s employee newsletter that describes the training and the MRC.

Cries for help, a siren and overturned tables and chairs among other debris were the sounds and sights in the Sorrell Center on a recent weekend.

It was only a drill, but a very life-like one.

Real people buried themselves under office equipment and smeared what looked like blood on their faces and arms. Responders from the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) moved about the room, assessed the severity of injuries and triaged both humans and patient simulators.

Led by Beth Beam, project coordinator for HEROES the volunteer group learned how to respond in a disaster situation as part of their MRC training.

Several UNMC health professionals are among the 500-plus members of the local MRC, dedicated to assist first responders in:

· large scale epidemics;
· bioterrorism;
· natural disasters;
· terrorist attacks;
· bomb scares; and
· bacterial assaults.

Sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General's office, the MRC is coordinated by the United Way of the Midlands and in affiliation with local emergency managers and the Omaha Metropolitan Medical Response System.