Bioterrorism Preparedness Program

Medical Reserve Corps, Pharmaceutical Initiatives, and the Disaster Medical Assistance Team

For Medical and Pharmaceutical Volunteers

The State of Rhode Island welcomes the participation of members of the professional community who are willing to offer their services during emergencies. There are currently two new programs at state level which are organizing these volunteers, these are the Medical Reserve Corps, and the Pharmaceutical Industry Volunteer Disaster Response Plan. In addition to these new initiatives, the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) has a local volunteer group of personnel who can be federalized for out of state service in an emergency. The local organization is the Rhode Island –1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (RI-1 DMAT). Further information on this team is available through their web site at: http://www.ri1dmat.org

Local (Rhode Island) Volunteer Groups:

The Medical Reserve Corps

This is a program which was originated at federal level to make use of volunteer professionals who want to help during local emergencies. Information on the program is at http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/ This program includes all licensed medical professionals, regardless of discipline. Registration. At this time, anyone who is interested should contact Lori Tucker at ltucker@lifespan.org

The Pharmaceutical Industry Volunteer Disaster Response Plan

There is a specific effort underway to organize local pharmaceutical representatives into a program to utilize supplies they may have on hand and may be of use to the community during emergencies. This plan will register and organize these representatives so that they may turn over needed supplies to medical facilities within the state. These pharmaceutical representatives typically have large quantities of samples available which would be of great use during the initial stages of an emergency. For more information on this program, contact the program point of contact, Ray Wright, # VM: 1-888-733-2006 x67787. EM: raymond.j.wright@pfizer.com