Commentaries

The time to build a volunteer reserve for disaster services is now
 November 22, 2005

 I heard about this [MPR News Feature: Bird flu preparations hard to pin down] and I wondered, don't we have some sort of reserve network in place? I mean we have it for several other public services, volunteer firefighters, police reserves, etc. Couldn't we create one for disaster health services? If one exists, shouldn't it be better publicized?

I'm certainly not a doctor or nurse, but if it comes down to staffing an emergency, with a little training I could certainly do many of the critical, non-medical duties like patient counseling (on medications, etc.), check-in and clean up. I could even be taught to give shots if that's feasible. Would I like to do most of these things? Not especially. But if we're talking pandemic, it needs to be done and I certainly would. While many experts consider this to be at least a year or more away (particularly in the case of bird flu since it has yet to mutate) I think the time to act and build a reserve is now.

Joe Yarnott
Monticello, MN
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