Upcoming Events
Wednesday, March 16th: Family Preparedness Train-the-Trainer
Friday, March 25th - Saturday, March 26th:
19th Annual MUD Nursing Symposium
Friday, April 1st:
Psychological First Aid Training Session 1
Thursday, April 7th:
Spring Orientation
Saturday, April 16th:
New Hampshire Integrated Emergency Volunteer Training
Tuesday, April 27th:
Psychological First Aid Training
Session 2
Saturday, April 30th:
CodeRed Activation Drill |
Thank you! Your decision to volunteer for MRC is appreciated! Please spread the word about our Northern NH Unit to your friends, family and Co-Workers. We would welcome the opportunity to come and speak about MRC at your workplace or other meetings or functions.
Please remember to keep us updated if your email address changes! Email is our most immediate and efficient way of communicating with our volunteers.
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Greetings!
There have been a few changes in the Northern NH MRC Unit. The first is that the North Country Health Consortium has moved its Whitefield Office. We are now located at the Mt. Eustis Commons, 262 Cottage St. Littleton. Our new phone number is (603) 259-3700. Our new mailing address is P.O. Box 348 Littleton, NH 03561.
Our unit also held its first orientation since 2009 in February with 8 new members attending. Bringing our total volunteers to 70. Thank you to all those who came! We are still looking for members for an advisory committee for NNH-MRC. If you have experience in Emergency Management and/or Volunteer Management and are willing to attend 2 meetings per year either in person or by phone, please contact Becky at (603) 259-3700 or email rbowers@nchcnh.org. |
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Family Preparedness
Train-the-trainer! For anyone who wants to teach others about personal and family preparedness or just learn themselves. Complete one of the Core Competencies for MRC, learn how to get informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect your local area, how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster and information specific to people with disabilities. Join us! Wednesday, March 16th from 3-5pm NCHC Littleton Office, Mt. Eusits Commons, 262 Cottage St. Littleton. RSVP Today! |
Psychological First Aid
Psychological First Aid aims to mollify the painful range of emotions and physical responses experienced by people exposed to disaster. These reactions include combinations of confusion, fear, hopelessness, helplessness, sleeplessness, physical pain, anxiety, anger, grief, shame and loss of confidence in self or others. Join us! Friday April 1st from 3pm-5pm for our first session, Wednesday, April 27th from 5pm-7pm put the training into practice RSVP Today! |
Let's Move!!
"First Lady Michelle Obama has started the Let's Move! campaign. This campaign has an ambitious national goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight. Let's Move! combats the epidemic of childhood obesity by engaging every sector that impact the health of children and providing schools, families and communities with simple tools to help kids be more active, eat better and live healthier. Medical Reserve Corps volunteers can play a key role in carrying out the objectives of this important campaign in their communities.
As community level volunteers with a focus on health, you are in an ideal position to directly impact children's health and make a real difference in solving the problem of childhood obesity. Each encounter you have with a parent or caregiver is an opportunity to help them understand the importance of optimal nutrition and physical activity from the earliest moments of life through adulthood. You can, for example, talk to new parents about first foods and breastfeeding and consider sharing your expertise with other community groups and organizations that support childhood health and wellness.
Thank you for the efforts you are already taking in improving the health and safety of your communities. I know that, together, we can do even more to reduce the number of overweight and obese children."
Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA
VADM, USPHS
United States Surgeon General
For more information, please look at the Let's Move! Toolkit. This toolkit provides information about ways to promote healthy living and active lifestyles.
Examples: Take part in a community garden: You can create your own community garden (the toolkit gives you step-by-step instructions) or you can join one. Littleton Regional Hospital already has a community garden. Spots are available from Memorial Day through October; to reserve one call the LRH Community Garden leadership at (603) 444-9261. If you want to help but don't want a spot you can call to simply volunteer in the garden.
Take the President's Active Lifestyle
Challenge: Help children get physically active by taking the President's challenge and hosting the challenge within your organization. All adults must do to earn a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award is be physically active for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for six out of eight weeks! For children it's an hour a day. For a step-by-step guide on getting started please visit the President's Challenge website today!
Join Trim Kids Program: The Trim Kids Program is a 12 week program that is free for families to join at any time during the 12 weeks. It's offered by Weeks Medical Center from March 2nd- May 18th. This program will discuss issues related to child obesity, healthy lifestyles, meal planning and exercise. For more information visit the Weeks Medical Center Events Calendar .
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Spring Orientation
Attend our Spring 2011 Orientation, for new members.
Discuss the Core Competencies of MRC and how to get involved.
Thursday, April 7th, 6pm
North Country Health Consortium's Berlin Office.
157 Main St. Suite 8 (above Tea Birds Cafe)
RSVP Today!
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NH Integrated Emergency Volunteer Training
Conferences are offered on Saturday April 16th at the Fireside Inn West Lebanon and Saturday May 14th at the University of NH in Durham. Attend required/relevant trainings and network with emergency volunteers from around the state. The conferences will be offered free for all active American Red Cross, CERT, DBHRT and MRC volunteers. Both conferences run from 8:30am-4:30pm.
Trainings offered include: CPR, Family Preparedness, Psychological First Aid, Standard Precautions and Does HIPPA Apply? If Not, What Does?
Sign Up Today!
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CodeRed Activation Drill
The CodeRed system is run by the Grafton County Sheriff's Department as a tool to make communication easier in the event of an emergency. If an emergency were to take place and MRC needed to be activated we would communicate through this system and you would receive messages to your home phone, cell phone, email and even with a text message if you'd like. In order to test this system we will be contacting each MRC Volunteer to update contact information over March. This drill will test our ability to communicate with MRC Volunteers and show MRC Volunteers how the system will work.
The drill will be held on Saturday, April 30th.
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Ongoing Training Requirements
- "Introduction to Disaster Services Training": Is an American Red Cross course that takes less than an hour to complete. You will virtually participate in a fire disaster response, and walk through the role of a Red Cross volunteer responder. Access this training online.
- "Incident Command System (ICS) 100, An Introduction": This course explains the communication procedures used to best support on-scene responders and coordinated various agencies during all-hazard incidents. Go online to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute today. It takes about 3 hours to complete. Please remember to send confirmation of your successful completion of ICS 100 to Becky at rbowers@nchcnh.org.
- "IS-700, National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction": This course helps you understand the way in which disasters are managed and how volunteers fit into the plan/response. Go online to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute today. It takes about 3 hours to complete. Again, please send confirmation of your successful completion to Becky at rbowers@nchcnh.org.
- "Terrorism and Public Health": This is a replacement course for our old public health online training, "Public Health 101". The State University of New York at Albany has developed an excellent course on terrorism that focuses specifically on public health. The course covers the basics of epidemiology and biological, chemical and radiological threats, incorporating the elements of public health planning. This course is offered online and takes about 6 hours to complete. Participants can earn 6 hours CME/CHES or 7.2 hours CNE.
- "Personal/Family Preparedness": Assemble a disaster supply kit, learn hazard-specific preparedness, develop a family communications plan, plan for the care of vulnerable family members and practice and maintain your plan. Creating a personal/family preparedness plan is a Core Competency for MRC. Come to our Family Preparedness training or go online to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute to learn about IS-22: "Are you ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness."
- "Psychological First Aid": Aims to mollify the painful range of emotions and physical responses experienced by people exposed to disaster. These reactions include combinations of confusion, fear, hopelessness, helplessness, sleeplessness, physical pain, anxiety, anger, grief, shame and loss of confidence in self or others. Attend our training on April 1st and April 27th or sign up for this training at one of the NH Integrated Emergency Volunteer Training.
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Continuing Education Opportunities
MUD Nursing Symposium: The 19th Annual MUD Season Nursing Symposium at the Grand Summit Hotel and Conference Center, Attitash Bear Park, Bartlett NH. View a brochure and for more information contact Kate at (603) 259-3700 or email kmccosham@nchcnh.org.
Terrorism and Public Health:
The State University of New York at Albany has developed an excellent course on terrorism that focuses specifically on public health. This course covers the basics of epidemiology and biological, chemical and radiological threats, incorporating the elements of public health planning. It is offered online and participants can earn 6 hours CME/CHES or 7.2 hours CNE.
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 ESAR-VHP
If you are a MRC volunteer, don't forget to register with ESAR-VHP (NH Emergency System for Advance Registration of Healthcare Professionals). This is no longer restricted to just health-care professionals. All MRC Volunteers can register. It is an electronic database of health-care personnel and others who have indicated their interest in volunteering to provide aid in an emergency. ESAR-VHP works on a volunteer basis, so you decide when and where you wish to volunteer. This system: - Registers health volunteers (as well as others)
- Applies emergency credentialing standards to registered health volunteers, and
- Allows for the verification of the identity, credentials and qualifications of registered volunteers in an emergency.
All MRC volunteers are encouraged to register. Click here for more information.
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