The Maryland Department of Health is marking National Preparedness Month this September with a social media push aimed at getting families, businesses, and communities to think through their own emergency plans — and encouraging Marylanders to volunteer with the state’s Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps.
“National Preparedness Month is a valuable opportunity to educate and empower Marylanders to prepare for and respond to any emergency that could affect their family and community,” said Sara Barra, director of the department’s Office of Preparedness and Response. “We will also highlight the great work of the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps, a dedicated group of volunteers who stand ready to meet our community’s public health needs during emergencies and to support ongoing public health initiatives statewide.”
The release describes Maryland Responds as made up of 26 local units housed within health departments statewide, though the department’s own program page currently lists 24 — a small discrepancy that may simply reflect units added since that page was last updated. Either way, the program is Maryland’s piece of a much larger national effort: the Medical Reserve Corps network, coordinated by the federal Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, now counts more than 250,000 volunteers across roughly 700 community-based units nationwide, according to a federal release earlier this year.
Maryland Responds volunteers take on a range of roles during emergencies, including natural disaster relief, supplying medical care and surge shelter capacity, community health education, and supporting animal welfare during evacuations. The program isn’t limited to medical professionals — it also welcomes educators, translators, administrative staff, chaplains, and other non-medical volunteers. The program has operated under a few different names over the years; it was previously known as the Maryland Professional Volunteer Corps, and a related nursing-focused initiative once operated as the Disaster Nurse Volunteer Program.
Throughout September, the health department will share preparedness tips and volunteer information across its X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts, as well as the Office of Preparedness and Response’s X and Facebook pages and the Maryland Responds Facebook page.
More information on statewide preparedness is available at health.maryland.gov/preparedness, and details on volunteering with Maryland Responds can be found at health.maryland.gov/mdr.
