Medical Reserve Corps Volunteers in Disasters: A Survey of Their Roles, Experiences, and Challenges

Abstract

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was established in the Office of the Surgeon General in response to the spontaneous but disorganized outpouring of medical volunteers following the terrorist attacks of 2001. The mission of the federal MRC office is to provide organizational structure and guidance to the nearly 1,000 locally organized and funded MRC units that have grown up across the country and the more than 200,000 volunteer health professionals that staff these units. Despite the large size of this program and its numerous activations over the past decade, including in the Boston Marathon bombing and Hurricane Sandy, relatively little is known about the MRC, including the make-up of the units, the ways units have been used, and the challenges faced by MRC units and their volunteers. Here we report the results of a mixed-methods investigation of MRC unit organization, activities, and challenges.