Emergency Preparedness & Response

Central Shenandoah Health District responds to any emergency impacting public health through preparation, collaboration, education, and rapid intervention. Emergency Preparedness & Response involves state, regional and local emergency response partners working together to enhance readiness to respond to all hazards, including bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other public health emergencies.

The Central Shenandoah MRC (CSMRC) is a local Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit; a force of dedicated volunteers who stand ready to support the community in the event of a public health emergency. The Mission of the CSMRC is to serve the communities within the Central Shenandoah Health District by recruiting, training, and engaging local teams of community volunteers, to include healthcare workers, public health professionals, and non-medical volunteers who contribute their skills, expertise, and time to support ongoing public health initiatives, and to augment and assist in the public health response to emergencies and disasters.

The CSMRC is one of over twenty MRC units throughout the Commonwealth that make up the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps (VAMRC), the public health emergency preparedness and response volunteer program administered by the Virginia Department of Health, and the CSMRC serves the counties of Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge, Rockingham, and the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, and Waynesboro.

For more information about the CSMRC, including training topics, response data, and how to become a member, visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/mrc/