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Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps

 
 

Welcome to the City of Allentown’s Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps

 

When public health emergencies, natural or man-made disasters or large-scale emergencies occur, many people instinctively want to help.  However, if you are not an emergency responder or volunteer affiliated with an emergency response agency, your skills may be unused or underutilized.

Allentown Volunteer Medical Resource Corps (AVMRC) is a volunteer base of community members who work with the Allentown Health Bureau and disaster response professionals during emergencies and at other times throughout the year to address the public health needs within the City of Allentown. Health professionals as well as community members with other skills and experiences play important roles during the response to public health emergencies.

AVMRC is looking for new volunteers - you do not need to be an Allentown resident to join. During a public health emergency, we will need both medical and non-medical volunteers including:

Physicians ~ Nurses ~ Social Workers ~ Paramedics ~ EMTs ~ Pharmacists Physician Assistants ~ Certified Nursing Assistants ~ Health Educators Translators/Linguists ~ Clerical Support ~ Data Entry ~ Phone Receptionists ~ Greeters ~ Food Services ~ Crowd Management ~ Loading/Shipping ~ and many more…

 
Becoming an AVMRC volunteer:   There are **3 steps to become a member of AVMRC.

1: Complete the AVMRC application. Click on the application that best describes you (Health Professional or Community Member). Then print, complete and sign the application. Please follow the directions to return it to the Allentown Health Bureau (Note: the application cannot be completed electronically)

2: Register on SERVPA. One goal of the AVMRC is to ensure that volunteers are identified, screened, trained and prepared prior to their participation in any activity. SERVPA, the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Pennsylvania, is the emergency system for the advance registration of volunteer medical and non-medical volunteers. An important feature of the SERVPA system is that it verifies medical credentials (if applicable) and conducts criminal history record checks of our volunteers. In addition, SERVPA is the system that the Allentown Health Bureau will utilize during an emergency to contact AVMRC volunteers to provide communications and request assistance.  (NOTE:  Only AVMRC volunteers who are registered and affiliated with AVMRC in the SERVPA system will be contacted and utilized during an emergency response. 

Complete your SERVPA registration today - click here to begin.  It's also important to note that there are volunteer protections in place for AVMRC volunteers who are registered in SERVPA; please be sure to read the "Terms of Service" on the SERVPA website.)

IMPORTANT:

  • If you already have a SERVPA account, please don’t create a new one – instead, log into your existing SERVPA account and request to join Allentown Volunteer MRC. 
  • Contact our office if you need help adding AVMRC to your SERVPA profile.

Here are the directions to create a NEW SERVPA Account:

  • Log in to SERVPA (https://serv.pa.gov) and Click on “Register Now”
  • Under Organizations, click on “Add Organizations”
  • Click on the + next to Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Organizations
  • Select Allentown Volunteer MRC
  • Click on Join
  • Answer all of the questions under each tab (Identity, Deployment Prefs, Contact, Occupations, Training, Skills & Certifications, Medical History).  
  • You must complete the profile 100%.  You’ll be able to monitor your status under the Summary tab under “My Profile.”
  • Please carefully review your account information to assure your information is correct. 
  • During the AVMRC orientation, we’ll explain the SERVPA system greater detail and demonstrate how it works.

3: Attend an AVMRC orientation.  The orientation sessions are conducted virtually and take approximately 1 hour.  Invitations for the AVMRC Orientations are sent to individuals who have completed the SERVPA registration and have requested to join "Allentown Volunteer MRC" in SERVPA.

If you have questions, would like additional information about AVMRC, please contact the Allentown Health Bureau via:
E-mail:  AVMRC@allentownpa.gov
Phone:  610-437-7760 x3510  (weekdays between 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM)
 

AVMRC Contacts at the Allentown Health Bureau:

MaryEllen (Mel) Shiels, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program Manager & AVMRC-SERVPA Administrator
Belle Marks, Associate Director for Personal Health Services & AVMRC Unit Leader
 

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of community-based volunteer units that focus on improving the health, safety and resiliency of their local communities. The mission of the MRC is to engage volunteers to strengthen public health, emergency response and community resiliency.