What is the MRC of El Paso County?
MRCEPC organizes local volunteers who donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and to support ongoing preparedness initiatives. MRCEPC volunteers include medical and public health professionals as well as other community members without healthcare backgrounds who want to improve the health and safety of El Paso County.
Mission
To organize and prepare non-hospital based, medically related personnel to ensure the physical, medical, mental and spiritual well being of the people and families of El Paso County in the event of a major disaster – whether man made or natural.
Vision
To assist and interface with existing public health and emergency response agencies and organizations during major disasters
To ensure the safety and effective use of vital community medical resources
To develop and maintain an effective plan and organization for use of non-hospital based community resources
To develop and maintain the ability to rapidly deploy alternate treatment facilities (Disaster Medical Aid Centers)
To shift the burden of triage and care for minor urgencies away from hospitals, allowing them to more effectively fulfill their mission to the critically injured
History
On September 12, 2001, the El Paso County Medical Society (EPCMS) Board of Directors recognized the need for working with our community to assure that all health care professionals were integrated into disaster planning for the community. They put together a community task force representing more than 20 agencies named “DR HELP (Disaster Response for Health in El Paso County).
EPCMS assured that DR HELP would be a lasting influence on disaster planning in El Paso secured a grant through the Department of Health and Human Services. The Medical Reserve Corps of El Paso County (MRCEPC) was chartered September 30, 2003 as a 501 (c) 3, Non-profit Organization and its housing agency is the EPCMS Foundation.
The MRCEPC mission is to organize and prepare non-hospital based medically related personnel to ensure the physical, medical, mental and spiritual well being of the people and families of El Paso County is met in the event of a major disaster.
MRCEPC is used to supplement existing emergency medical services when a disaster overwhelms those existing resources.
MRCEPC will support the City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County Office of Emergency Management, El Paso County Public Health and the hospital systems within El Paso County by providing volunteers to staff an Alternate Care Center or an Emergency Mass Care Shelter.
During the Waldo Canyon Fire, June 23, 2012 to July 10, 2012, 88 MRCEPC volunteers donated 1,644 hours of their time to support the Waldo Canyon Fire Response efforts. MRCEPC provided 552 hours of medical and behavioral health support at four mass care shelters , 493 hours of behavioral health support at town hall meetings, re-entry into the impact area and FEMA assessments of the impact area, and 599 hours coordinating with other agencies,attending briefings to provide support, volunteer management and preparing self, family andwork to deploy.
During the Black Forest Fire, June 11, 2013 to June 28, 2013, 56 volunteers donate 450 hours of their time to support the Black Forest Fire Response efforts. We provided medical services at the shelters, Tetanus shots at the Disaster Assistance Center and Behavioral Health specialist with the re-occupation efforts.
The Medical Reserve Corps of El Paso County (MRCEPC) was active during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The MRCEPC volunteers assisted El Paso County Public Health and the City/County in the following missions:
Call center with Public Health
Staff support in the Long-Term Healthcare Centers (LTHC)
Psychological support in the LTHC including developing stress management videos for staff and residents and manning a support line for staff and residents
Telehealth-Support to homeless shelters dealing with COVID positive or possible COVID positive residents.
Contact Tracing for EL Paso County
Vaccination Clinics for COVID Vaccine distribution. The MRCEPC volunteers put in over 9400 hours during the Pandemic and continue to respond when requested to assist with vaccination clinics. The National MRC converts our hours based on the occupational level of volunteers into dollars and our current contribution of volunteer hours equals more than $1.2 million.
Between missions, our active volunteers train for future needs and remain prepared to respond to county disasters and emergencies for which we're called.
We started with 120 volunteers at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. This number surged to 557 volunteers at the height of the COVID Vaccination Clinics. As of 2024 we have about 240 active volunteers.
