About the Philadelphia Medical Reserve Corps (P-MRC)

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Program was officially launched as a national, community-based movement in July 2002.  It was formed in response to President Bush’s call to all Americans to offer volunteer service in their communities.  The MRC Program is a specialized component of the Citizen Corps Council, a national network of volunteers dedicated to making sure their families, homes, and communities are safe from terrorism, crime, and disasters of all kinds. 

The purpose of the MRC Program is to strengthen communities by providing a structure for volunteers to offer their expertise in times of community need.  The MRC is a local volunteer unit that supplements existing community emergency response systems during large-scale emergencies. 

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) and the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services (DBH/MRS) established the Philadelphia MRC (P-MRC) in October 2005.  The Philadelphia MRC is in need of licensed, certified or recently retired medical providers and licensed or paraprofessional behavioral health providers to register with the program.

Program Goal

The primary goal of the Philadelphia MRC is to establish a cadre of volunteer medical and behavioral health providers who are trained and available to respond in a public health emergency.  These providers will be able to:

• Respond to emergencies in an effective organized framework within a command and control structure
• Increase capacity of the existing health care system to respond to public health or community medical emergencies by providing patient evaluation, dispensing of medication or mass vaccination, or delivering health education
• Support mass patient care or hospital surge capacity needs
• Provide behavioral health support during and after a disaster
• Expand public health department capacity for disease control measures such as case finding and monitoring
• Improve overall health and well being of communities during and after a disaster
• Volunteer for possible deployment to communities in need nationwide