IDAHO — Amid the COVID-19 surge which is leading Idaho hospitals to activate or come close to activating crisis standards of care, the Medical Reserve Corp is recruiting volunteers. This group works with health care systems on public health missions.
Right now that means managing the latest COVID-19 surge.
"We will take anybody from a medical doctor to somebody with absolutely no medical training and everybody in between," Molly Smith, the Medical Reserve Corp Coordinator at Southwest District Health said.
Each volunteer is matched with a task tailored to their experience and capabilities, including things like working at vaccination clinics, working at local hospitals or manning the phones at the health district's call center.
"We have some people who don't have a medical background who still want to volunteer and they just come and they do data entry which is a huge help for us," Smith said.
She said even a volunteer greeting people at a hospital entrance and asking them to put a mask on is a big help.
"That duty relieves somebody else within the hospital and can provide a lot of relief during these stressful times when the hospitals are currently overtaxed," Smith said.
Each health district runs a Medical Reserve Corp so any Idahoan interested in volunteering can click here to register.
