OnCall For Vermont

Volunteering

Are you interested in volunteering to help out your community? Consider reaching out to your local MRC unit and join today!

In an emergency, your neighbor may need a hand. How about yours?

Anyone can join the Medical Reserve Corps and learn the skills necessary to help out your neighbors and community members in the event of an emergency.

Vermont thrives on volunteer efforts—and never is that truer than during emergencies. From trained medical professionals who respond daily to citizen volunteers who step up during natural disasters, Vermonters like you make all the difference in our communities’ health, safety, and preparedness. OnCall for Vermont offers two opportunities for health-focused volunteering–Medical Reserve Corps and Emergency Medical Services.

Medical Reserve Corps

Vermont’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units are community-focused volunteers who supplement local public health and emergency response resources. They receive training in emergency preparedness, prepare for and respond to emergencies, and promote public health throughout the year. Part of the national MRC network, Vermont’s eight MRC units are a shining light in their community.

The first step to joining the MRC is registering with the Vermont Volunteer Responder Management System. This will connect you with your local MRC unit to learn more about the program.

Register here!

Watch the video below to learn why some members of Vermont's MRC group joined!

Emergency Medical Services

Vermont’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) volunteers often see people on the worst day of their lives–providing timely care to help Vermonters in their most critical times of need. When a call comes in, you never quite know what to expect. These dynamic and unpredictable situations require a high level of coordinated teamwork–a cornerstone of the EMS experience.

Find a Volunteer EMS Opportunity

Volunteer of the Month: Alex Medlicott

What was your reason for joining the Medical Reserve Corps program?

It was 2019 and the World Health Organization (WHO) had just declared COVID as a pandemic. Dark times, and with the prospect of a pandemic and with the depression that comes with winter, I was feeling pretty dejected. Joining the Medical Reserve Corps felt like there was something to be done, something that would allow me to be part of the solution.

Tell us about your professional experience.

I started of as an undergraduate English Literature major (my father was an English professor) and did the student teaching gig. I realized quickly that I didn’t have a sedentary mentality and did not want to spend my life at a desk. I took a few pre-requisite pre-med classes and graduated with a double major.

I got into and went to medical school. The best experience was doing rotations for the Indian Health Service. I spent two years at the Choctaw reservation, and then in Alaska. Following the rotations, my wife and I went to a two-year family practice in Kotzebue, which is 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. There were three to four of us generalists who did a bit of everything-surgery, obstetrics, infectious disease. When I left the public health service, I went in to be an ER doctor. Back then, you could challenge the Boards with 7,000 hours of service, and I passed. The next 30 years I spent in the ER at Plymouth Hospital in NH before retiring at 65.

What’s something we should know about you?

We bought over 200 acres of farm in 2001 in Piermont, NH. We have spent much of our time since renovating, maintaining, and developing the farm, and planting the fields. Right now we have veggie beds, fruits (blueberries and raspberries), and have even started growing shiitake mushrooms on oak in our garage. For a while, we even raised beef, which was the only thing we ever sold for profit. What we grow we preserve or give away to family and friends.

My one regret is not taking small engine repair classes in school, since working a farm revolves around our six pieces of farm equipment.

What was your favorite moment, or most memorable experience of your MRC work?

Obviously for me and many, it was working COVID vaccination clinics. I did more intramuscular injections in two years than in 45 years of doctoring since I could hand vaccinations off to other staff back then. It was such a joy to have people be eager and grateful for a shot. People were genuinely happy to be there. The summer of ’21 was a heady experience, especially since we thought that the vaccine would prevent COVID. It unfortunately didn’t, just lessened it’s effects, but being protective counted for a lot.

What are your parting words to anyone considering joining the MRC?

I encourage anyone with interest to get involved. In the environment we currently live in, with our political climate, our access to care, our healthcare delivery and our funding in jeopardy, it’s important that we play a part in taking care of each other. One-on-one, we can make a difference. It’s also a great chance to meet like-minded people.

I live by two quotes that define my outlook on life. The first is from Teddy Roosevelt, and he says, "The first requisite of a good citizen in our republic is that he should be able and willing to pull his weight." The second is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, and says, “A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” Both of these reflect my experience of how we should be towards one another.