New Mexico Medical Reserve Corps

Volunteer Training

Volunteers are required to complete several mandatory trainings within one year of attending a volunteer orientation session. The mandatory trainings include an on-line course offered by the New Mexico Department of Health called Answering the Call: Health and Medical Emergency Preparedness and Response in New Mexico; a general CPR and First Aid course; and two courses from the on-line FEMA Independent Study Program.  Volunteers will also be informed of optional trainings, workshops, conferences and lectures.

Optional Training

Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) and Advance Disaster Life Support (ADLS)

Over the past three decades, nationally recognized and validated training programs for Advanced Cardiac Life support (ACLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) have become a standard part of civilian and U.S. military medical training curricula and continuing medical education (CME). During the 1990s, the evolving need for similar advanced training in the recognition and management of all-hazards threats (nuclear, biological, chemical, explosive and natural disasters), was recognized. To meet this need, several academic institutions developed analogous National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) course consisting of Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support (BDLS) courses. These courses target resident-physicians, critical care/emergency nurses, paramedics, primary care providers, and medical students.

BDLS curriculum is developed with an all-hazards approach (recognition and management) to disaster response. Individual chapters within the didactic curriculum are incorporating a unifying algorithm called the D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R paradigm. Also, the concepts of MASS Triage and Disaster Casualty Zones are reinforced continually throughout the chapters. Participants can receive certification for completion of this didactic portion of the course. Those successfully completing the BDLS didactic course can then participate in ADLS.

The ADLS portion of the training program is focused at the provider who has already taken the BDLS program. The ADLS training consists of an intensive two-day course, focused on the development of hands on skills and allows the provider to apply the knowledge learned in BDLS using simulated disasters.

Other Training Resources

The premier learning resource for professionals who protect the public's health. A free service of the Public Health Foundation, www.train.org is part of the newly expanded TrainingFinder Real-time Affiliate Integrated Network (TRAIN). This URL provides training specific to MRC.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention
The Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers free online training in public health related issues. Training modules cover such topics as smallpox and plague, and video webcasts and conferences are available at no cost. CME, CNE, CHES and CEU credits are available for some of these courses.

Center for Health and the Global Environment
Harvard Medical Schools Center for Health and the Global Environment was founded to promote research into the relationship between health and environmental change. The Center offers online courses designed for current and future medical professionals, policy-makers and public health experts.

Environmental Protection Agency
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers educational resources for researchers, teachers and students. Researchers can gain access to the latest in environmental research, teachers can review EPA curricula, and students can learn fun facts about earth science.

Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Department of Homeland Security offers a free distance learning program in emergency management. The program is available to all residents of the United States with a deliverable postal address.