This season was one of our most productive ever! By now we have 344 members on our roster, with more on the horizon as we continue to grow and strengthen the unit. Here's a recap of the highlights from January through March.

Recruitment – The first information session of the winter boosted membership over the 300 mark, with the enrollment of Mary Williams, RN.		Sandy Collins, UMV MRC Director, and Tom Carbone, representing the Tewksbury Board of Health, congratulate Mary Williams (center) for becoming the 300th member of the local MRC.
New members at the Tewksbury session in January remained for a photo.	The three remaining sessions drew recruits to Lowell General Hospital , the Tyngsboro Town Hall , and the Dracut Fire Department. Each session presented an “Introduction to the MRC,” which provided EMTs with two credit hours. Similar orientations will be offered throughout the year.

Lt. Tom Greenhalgh (left) and Dr. Hayden Duggan (right), in front of a diagram on the limbic system, during the class they taught on stress and crisis management.

Training – Members showed up in force at educational events that the unit offered or co-sponsored. Many evaluation forms at the end of these sessions provided rave reviews. In addition to a seminar in January on Avian Flu, members attended classes on Smallpox (Chelmsford), Critical Incident Stress (Billerica), JUMPSTART pediatric triage (Westford), and Personal Protective Equipment (Lowell).

Instructor Marianne Bitner (seated) provides more detail about pediatric triage to nurses Louise Moncreaff and Linda Gilmore.

Kathleen Lallemand, RN, speaks with visitor Carol Hurst about family preparedness.

Community Service – Many interested visitors stopped by the MRC display table at a health fair for municipal employees in Westford. In addition to St Patrick's Day greetings, visitors received information on preparedness. A surprising number came over specifically to join the unit!

Communications – Promotions to support MRC events included two radio broadcasts and repeated Public Service Announcements in our largest UMV community (WUML and WCAP in Lowell ). Bulletins ran on numerous local cable TV stations and Internet sites, along with posters placed at area facilities, and several newspaper placements.

Not only did these promotions encourage recruitment, new members shared in their application forms that these measures raised awareness of the MRC system across the region.

State and National Activities – Several members are included in the MA statewide MRC video, which is in the final stages of production. The UMV MRC staff also provided suggestions for the new statewide MRC website, which lists all the current MA units.

Director Sandy Collins is active in MSAR, the MA version of the national ESAR-VHP (Emergency System of Advanced Registration for Volunteer Health Professionals). Coordinator Nancy Burns represents MRC Region I in the Mass Casualty Incident task force. The national program continues to spread like wildfire, so to date we are proud to represent one of 24 MRC units in MA and 39 in New England, with 410 MRCs across the U.S.

Spotlight Coverage – One of our first members, who joined the unit at its initial focus group on June 2004, is the volunteer recognized in the March Spotlight by the National MRC Program Office. Pauline Ray, RN, has participated in numerous flu clinics, drills, trainings, and public service events. In October 2005, she served as a camp nurse at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod , for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Congratulations, Pauline!

Pauline Ray provided tetanus boosters for the UMV MRC at a health fair in July 2005.

Opportunities – Over two dozen members are signed up for the next course offering of START – Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment – on Saturday, April 22, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chelmsford police station. Spaces are still available, so it's not too late to register. This version of START offers 4 OEMS credits for EMTs and 3.5 CEUs for nurses. Interested members are also welcome to help with this year's Tyngsboro Health Fair the following Saturday morning, April 29.

Keep in touch for new member orientations and other activities throughout the year!