Community members, with or without medical training, who are willing to support public health on a daily basis or during public health emergencies are encouraged to join. This includes professionals from all of the health occupations. MRC units have non-medical volunteers who provide education, logistics, communication, coordination, and other support.

Yes. MRC units need both medical and non-medical volunteers. Some of the positions for volunteers will require licensure, to protect the volunteer as well as to ensure the best care for those in need of medical attention. In the event of a disaster, those with prior medical expertise without an active license could serve as medical interviewers, clinic coordinators as well as other positions. There will also be many needs for unlicensed health professionals and for those without medical training.

You will be notified by your local unit coordinator via the information that you provide when applying to the join your MRC unit. You will receive an alert notification via email, text and/or phone from the Texas Disaster Volunteer Registry. Therefore, it is very important that you keep your contact information current. You can access your volunteer profile at any time to update your information or contact your MRC coordinator.

You are a volunteer, so there are no availability requirements. Certainly, we understand you may have work and family commitments that prohibit you from volunteering at any given time. Many MRC units also participate in numerous non-emergency public health activities that you can be involved in if you have other emergency response commitments. If you determine that you are unavailable for an extended period time due to illness or relocation, please contact your MRC unit coordinator so they can change your volunteer status.

Representatives of the local and state health department will have access to this information for the purpose of your volunteer role. If deploying with an organization other than Harris County MRC, only the required information will be provided to the requesting organization.