The Cupertino Courier

News

Cupertino seeks pros to train for emergencies

By Crystal Lu

The Cupertino Medical Reserve Corps is recruiting local health professionals to serve as volunteers.

Fari Aberg, coordinator of the MRC, spoke at the Jan. 8 Cupertino City Council meeting as part of the group's recruitment effort for 2008.

"I would like to invite everyone to come and join our wonderful team," said Aberg.

"We will have training for all volunteers once each quarter. There will be some hands-on practice and emergency drills."

The MRC program is a specialized function of Cupertino's Community Emergency Response Team program. Both are components of Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to making sure the families, homes, and communities are safe from terrorism, crime and disasters of all kinds.

The mission of the MRC is to establish teams of local medical and public health professionals who can contribute their skills and expertise throughout the year and when the community is in need of them.

Among MRC volunteers, medical professionals will attend an orientation session on the city's disaster plans, and other volunteers will receive free advanced first-aid training before they serve the community.

For more information, go to www.cupertino.org/emergency.