MRCThe mission of the Stark County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC ) is to establish local teams of healthcare professionals and community members who can assist our community during emergencies, such as influenza epidemics, natural disasters or acts of terrorism. The MRC consists of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to their community. Volunteers include, but are not limited to physicians, nurses, fire fighters, paramedics, medical personnel, epidemiologists, veterinarians, dentists, office workers, and legal advisors.

In Stark County, all volunteers who are medical and non-medical are incorporated into the MRC. Anyone interested in volunteering should go to https://www.ohioresponds.odh.ohio.gov/ and register as a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer. Online registration will connect you with the Stark County coordinator and provide liability for volunteers.

Existing volunteers are strongly encouraged to keep their information up to date as https://www.ohioresponds.odh.ohio.gov/ . 

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

During a disaster, many citizens want to respond and help. Registering, verifying licenses and assigning volunteers according to their skills takes time and resources, especially during a crisis. Having volunteers registered and credentialed before a disaster allows for a faster response and recovery making our community more resilient. In addition, trainings are offered to registered volunteers allowing for better preparedness when a disaster strikes.

Any citizen age 18 or older can apply. Volunteers may range from medical professionals such as nurses, physicians or veterinarians to non-medical professionals such as radio operators, equipment operators or clerical workers  

  • Register online at https://www.ohioresponds.odh.ohio.gov/
  • Complete four hours of approved training every three years (Free).
  • Your drivers and professional license must be verified at the time of training and at the time of activation. Please bring these with you to any event you respond to, including trainings
  • Communicable Disease Outbreak
  • Disaster Preparedness Exercises or Drills
  • Mass Vaccination Clinic
  • Natural Disasters
  • Other Disasters (Fire)
  • Pandemic Flu Outbreak
  • Terrorists Attacks

Ohio Revised Code 121.404

Liability protection is provided to registered Ohio Citizen Corps (including Ohio Medical Reserve Corps) volunteers during local or state declared emergencies, disasters, drills and trainings. The statute also exempts a registered volunteer’s personal information on the Ohio Responds Database from public disclosure.

Yes. You are not obligated to respond to any event. If the MRC is activated, it’s important that volunteers contact their place of employment prior to responding to any event to make sure they are not needed at work. A volunteer is NOT to respond to an event if they are needed at their place of employment. Volunteers should NEVER self deploy

Volunteers may participate in non-emergencies such as drills and exercises with local responders. Other community events may include wellness fairs, health events or requests to help with day to day tasks at an agency. No volunteer is obligated to participate in these requests. These opportunities are offered as an option to work with community partners.

An approved training list can be found on www.ohioresponds.odh.ohio.gov and selecting “Training Opportunities” from the top tab. We may also offer some training courses through Red Cross and the Alternate Care Site Committee from the hospitals’. These training opportunities are announced via email to all registered MRC volunteers.