Above: Southborough MRC/CERT members are asking for new volunteers in the community to join them. (image from Town website)
This summer, Southborough’s Fire Department shared a call for more volunteers for Southborough’s Medical Reserves Corps (MRC) and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Team.
[I came across the announcement from June when rounding up police and fire news for the post earlier today. I decided that this item deserved a dedicated post of its own.]
The call for volunteers states:
The mission of our MRC/CERT team is to improve the health and safety of our community by organizing and utilizing medical, public health, and other volunteers which enhances our regional emergency response capabilities.
To find more details, volunteers were directed here.
A flyer on that page explains that they recruit “medical and non-medical volunteers willing to train and assist with mass care and large scale incidents and disasters”.
You may have seen volunteers at first aid stations at public events in town (like races and festivals). That’s just one of the ways they support the community.
Members are trained in:
- Emergency preparedness, readiness, response and recovery
- Public health preparedness and response
Although two separate groups, CERT and MRC:
joined together as one team with the same goal- helping our community and emergency services. We also deploy regionally and state-wide. In Southborough, both teams work together as one unit called CERT/MRC. We are comprised of both medical and non- medical professional citizens with a variety of skill sets.
It further explains:
Southborough is a small community with the need for volunteers at a large scale incident or disaster whether it is natural, biological, man-made or technological. Emergency services would be tied up almost instantly. We, as trained volunteers, assist emergency operations at and away from the incident. Members are trained in Shelter Operations, Incident Safety, Traffic Control, Rapid Needs and Damage Assessment, Wide Area Search and Rescue, Mass Triage and First Aid – with some members being EMT’s and RN’s. In non-emergency events such as town functions, parades, or road races for public and private agencies, our volunteers have assisted emergency services with Traffic Control, First Aid, Safety, Operations and Logistics.
Our trainings are the same for both CERT and MRC groups, cross training all members to better serve our communities. Cross training is key when incidents may require non-medically trained members to assist medically trained members (i.e. Emergency Dispensing Site), and vice versa.
You can find more details on members’ Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, plus the agencies they work under in the flyer.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact either Carol Willoughby (carol.willoughby1@yahoo.com) or Lisa Braccio (ladylisa30@aol.com). They can send volunteers an application to complete. (Volunteers also need to have a CORI check run.)
