MCI Drill Preps UC Berkeley’s Medical Reserve Corps for the Big One

UC Berkeley’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a student-run organization of more than 70 UC Berkeley EMTs and health professionals from campus and the Berkeley community. Though never activated for a disaster on UC Berkeley's campus, the UCB MRC recently sent EMTs to aid in the recovery efforts for Lake County’s Valley Fire.

In addition to disaster response, the Berkeley MRC routinely provides standby medical coverage at a variety of campus events including Cal football games where they work with CalMedics and Paramedics Plus, the county EMS provider. They also provide discounted CPR courses for the campus and Berkeley community.

On November 13, the MRC took over the six-story Woo Hon Fai Hall near UC Berkeley’s campus for a large-scale MCI drill. MRC members were notified via California EMSA’s Disaster Healthcare Volunteer database of an earthquake striking UC Berkeley’s campus. Almost 60 MRC members responded, and they were quickly deployed in teams to triage, stabilize and transport patients to a field treatment site.

From there, members worked with a volunteer group acting as the county EMS agency and coordinated transport to an alternate care site (ACS). At the ACS, members practiced giving turnover reports to clinical staff and were tasked with assisting in setting up ALS procedures within scope. UC Berkeley's ROTC also participated, practicing light search and rescue and patient extrication.

“It was inspiring to see the BMRC EMTs, Berkeley ROTC and UCPD come together to work toward the common goal of making our campus and community a safe place. Our MCI drill shows that the BMRC is well prepared to serve its community in the case of a disaster,” says Harshika Chowdhary, deputy director of disaster preparedness. Chowdhary, a microbial biology student graduating in the Spring 2017, is one of the many students who help run the student-run organization.

Since its beginning in 2014, the MRC has become integral in campus disaster planning. While the campus is located near the city of Berkley, emergency managers realized that in the event of a major earthquake or wildfire, the campus would benefit from the ability to provide some of their own disaster medical services. With a student body of almost 40,000, the campus decided to tap into this population for support.

“Readiness for any and all potential disasters is vital to our campus community. With the advent of the BMRC, the campus now has the capability to provide much needed first response medical triage/care throughout the campus for those catastrophic emergencies we could face,” says Stephen Stoll, UC Police’s manager of services and homeland security unit. “The dedication and professionalism these students demonstrate on a routine basis is amazing, and UC Berkeley is proud to have them as an integral part of our overall emergency response capability.”

UC Berkeley's police department—one of the agencies able to activate the MRC—provides oversight and swears in all of their members as disaster service workers.

With a large pool of EMTs and other health professionals, the Berkeley MRC puts UC Berkeley in a unique position to both respond to a disaster and instill the values of community involvement and volunteerism in the next generation of healthcare providers.

For more information on UC Berkeley’s MRC, including events, how to join and CPR classes, visit https://mrc.berkeley.edu/.