The Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps (SMRC) engages volunteer medical professionals and non-medical members to strengthen and support Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services, Public Health, EMS, Fire, Law Enforcement, the Coroner, hospitals, and other medical agencies when a disaster or public health emergency impacts our community. Our volunteer members are Doctors, Nurses, Medics, Dentists, Public Health, Mental Health professionals, and medically trained support volunteers who donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies including winter storms, COVID-19, and Northern CA wildfires.
The SMRC can be called upon in the event of a large-scale disaster, public health emergency, hospital surge, or to provide medical related support to shelters. Throughout the year the SMRC staffs flu clinics, provides first aid at large public events, promotes emergency preparedness, and helps to keep the community healthy.
In response to the January 2023 storms, the SMRC provided medical care at shelters for people evacuated due to the storms.
During the COVID-19 response effort, our members served over 28,000 volunteer hours staffing vaccination and testing clinics, the COVID-19 Hotline and after-hours calls, laboratory courier, case investigation, and contact tracing for Sacramento County Public Health.
For wildfire response, the SMRC served in the Camp Fire response effort in Butte County where our volunteer medical professionals and support members provided medical care at shelters and assisted the Coroner's Office with identifying victims of the fires. The SMRC program has also supported wildfire response efforts in Napa, Solano, and Lake Counties.
The Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps Foundation supports the SMRC program. This program is one of over 800 Medical Reserve Corps programs across the nation. Our SMRC was the 42nd MRC to be recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General. Nationally the MRC program is led by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps Foundation (SMRCF) was established in 2012 to provide financial support to the community service function of the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services' Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps program. The Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps program began in 2003 as a program of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and in 2009, became a program of the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services.
In 2022, a SMRC RN who served 900 hours on COVID-19 After Hours Calls on evenings and weekends was awarded an honorable mention for Outstanding MRC Partner Agency.
The CA Emergency Services Association presented the Gold Award to to SMRC Coordinator Lynn Pesely for her exceptional efforts and leadership in serving the operational area during the response to COVID-19.
In 2021, Sacramento County Public Health was named National Outstanding MRC Partner Agency, for its strong partnership with the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps.
A SMRC member received an honorable mention for Outstanding MRC Responder for serving 1,000 hours as a laboratory courier for the COVID-19 response effort.
In 2018, a 78-year-old SMRC member who is an EMT was named Outstanding MRC Responder of the Year by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services -- Assistant Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response for her extensive experience in emergency response.
The SMRC Foundation was named 2017 CA Nonprofit of the Year by CA State Senator Ted Gaines. In addition, CA State Senator Gaines annually recognizes our members who participate in emergency response efforts and personally recognized members at our 2018 SMRC membership appreciation event. The Senator also presented a Senate Resolution to the SMRC Program Coordinator for her years of service.
Recent Publications and Presentations include:
- MRC In Touch - "MRC Units Response to Severe Weather in CA", February 2023
- American Academy of Dentists, Fall/Winter 2021
- National Association of County and City Health Officials -- Preparedness Summit training workshop "Emergency Response Partnerships".
- MRC In Touch -- "Integrating MRC Volunteers into Mass Fatality Response", Sacramento Sierra Valley Medicine "Join the Medical Reserve Corps", CA Emergency Medical Services Authority/CA Public Health Emergency Preparedness Training Workshop and CA Emergency Medical Services Agency MRC Coordinator's Workshop -- Presentations on the "SMRC Role in the Camp Fire Response Effort".