Utilizing Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to bridge the gap between local health departments for preparedness planning

Historically, partnering with Tribal Nations has been a challenge for many Local Health Departments (LHDs). LHDs often look to “out of the box” methods to initiate and sustain these partnerships. An extremely successful way of both creating and sustaining a partnership between a Tribal Nation and a LHD is through the utilization of the local Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and its volunteers.

This session will describe the challenges that LHDs have when partnering with Tribal Nations. It will also describe the purpose and mission of the MRC, and how, through partnering with its local MRC unit and its volunteers, that an LHD can create a successful partnership with a Tribal Nation, specifically in the context of public health preparedness. This presentation will also highlight specific best practices of this type of partnership, presenting “out of the box” solutions to the demonstrated challenges.