The
Medical Reserve Corps
of Southern Arizona
Contact Us:
Call 520.445.7035
MRCSA
Improving the health, emergency response and resiliency in our communities.
MRCSA News //
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Coming Events!
December 18
Virtual Workshop - 9:00 a.m.
COVID-19 - What's Next?
Dr. Sean Elliott
Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, University of Arizona College of Medicine
Pediatric Infectious Diseases – TMCOne
Director of Research, Scholarship and Quality Improvement for THMEP
Join the workshop from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://www.gotomeet.me/TimSiemsen/mrcsa-training
COVID-19 Resources
COVID-19 Outbreak Tracker. Johns Hopkins
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
Experts Address Parents’ Questions About COVID-19 Vaccines
Available at azhealth.gov/TownHalls in English, and in English with Spanish subtitles, the 30-minute video features:
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Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th U.S. Surgeon General and Special Adviser to Governor Doug Ducey on public health emergency preparedness;
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Jessica Rigler, ADHS Assistant Director for Public Health Preparedness; and
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Dr. Sean P. Elliott, a Tucson Medical Center physician specializing in pediatric infectious diseases.
MRCSA Milestones
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Founded, September 30, 2002
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One of 50 original MRC units
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Established as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, 2003
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Hurricane Katrina Evacuee Shelter, August, 2005
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Authorization of HB-2599, November, 2005
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Measles Outbreak, 2008
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Student MRC Established, 2008
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H1N1 Influenza Pandemic response, 2009
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MRC-UA established, 2010
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Tenth Anniversary, 2012
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Emergency Civilian Casualty Care, 2014
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Power Outage Roundtable, 2014
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Ebola and All-Hazards Forum, 2014
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MRCSA State Coordinators Meeting, February 2015
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MOU signed with AZCHER, April 2015
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Renewed MOU with Red Cross, June, 2015
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Power Outage Roundtable - Next Steps, November 2015
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Southern Arizona MRC Alliance, 2016
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Affiliation with Southern Arizona Interagency Peer Support Team, June 2017
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Pima County LOOP Opening, March 2018
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Pima County Mass Care Exercise, May 2018
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Cochise County Hepatitis A Response, Summer 2019
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MIRT Team, October 2019
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First Annual Brain Health Conference, November 2019
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Public Health Team, February 2020
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TUS Mass Casualty Exercise - March 10, 2020
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COVID-19 Disease Investigation - March 16 - October 16, 2020
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COVID-19 PODs December 17, 2020 - June 30, 2021
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Shelter Support Team Established December 4, 2021
Community Partners
Arizona HOSA - Future Health Professionals
Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation
Pima County Medical Society
International Center for Vasectomy Reversal
Kachina Business Systems
Hilton Tucson East
Northwest Medical Center
Tucson Fire Department
Arizona Healthcare Coalition - South
Tucson Medical Center
Southern Arizona Chapter of American Red Cross
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center
Southern Arizona Interagency Peer Support Team
Integrated Community Solutions to Active Violence Events (ICSAVE)
Pima County JTED EMT Program
NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador
Southern Arizona COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster)
U of A Flying Samaritans
MRCSA welcomes licensed health and medical personnel, including nurses, nurse practitioners, veterinarians, pharmacists, doctors, chiropractors, physician assistants, behavioral health professionals and dentists.
Volunteers with active licenses as well as retired health professionals and students in healthcare career tracks are the Medical Reserve Corps of Southern Arizona.
MRCSA Community Roles and Responsibilities
MRCSA volunteers are prepared to provide surge capacity in local disasters, including but not limited to assisting with medical and non-medical functions at mass prophylaxis and vaccination clinics; exercise and drill planning and participation; staffing call centers and phone banks; post-event incident follow-up; supporting continuity of operations for hospitals and clinics during public health emergencies; assisting community long-term recovery efforts through outreach and assistance; data collection and entry; general and post crisis education; foreign language education and interpretation; information technology support; local resource dissemination; and other logistical support at public clinics. Non-emergent activities address daily community health needs.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is responsible for the management and oversight of the non-profit corporation. They review and approve all MRCSA documents and initiatives. The Board is responsible for community outreach to ensure sustainability and recommends methods to build and grow the organization. They would also be at the forefront of any legislative action that may be required for growth or sustainability.
Our 2021 Board of Directors:
Keith Boesen PharmD, President
Sheldon Marks MD, Vice President
Steve Nash, Treasurer
Mary Stebbins RN
Cynthia Dowdall PhD
Bruce Whitney
Harry McDermott MD
Sean Elliott MD
Lois Marecek
Mike Carter
Jenna Wild
MRCSA Shelter Support Team
In partnership with the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Shelter Operations Team is trained to respond to disaster and emergency shelter operations within the region. Team member are physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and other medical professionals. Non-medical volunteers fill important support roles.
MRCSA Program Planning Team
Established in 2015, the MRCSA Leadership Team was reconstituted in 2020 as the Program Planning Team. The Team is comprised of members who are devoted to the professional growth and development of the program through training and other educational and community outreach opportunities.
The Program Planning Team develops the training and exercise calendar which is posted on our web calendar. Click on the tab above to view the calendar.
MRCSA Public Health Team
The Public Health Team supports the mission of the Pima County Health Department. Members have participated in back to school immunization clinics, Influenza vaccination clinics, Epidemiology case investigation and, currently, COVID-19 Points of Dispensing.
MRCSA Mass Incident Response Team
MIRT is a team of specialists who are trained to support local, state and federal agencies in response to a significant mass casualty incident. MIRT was founded in 2019.
Disaster Distress Hotline
CDC Managing CoVID-19 Stress
Poison Centers Resource
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/prepare/managing-stress- anxiety.html
https://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/poison-centers
From the United States and its territories, call 1-800-985-5990 to connect with a trained crisis counselor, 24/7.Spanish-speakers can call the hotline and press “2”for 24/7 bilingual support. Callers to the hotline can also connect with counselors in over 100 other languages via 3rd-party interpretation services.
To connect with a live Disaster Distress Hotline crisis counselor 24/7 text “TalkWithUs” for English or “Hablanos” for Spanish to 66746.
Coping with COVID Vaccine Anxiety
Thanks to our partners at the University of Arizona for these resources