Had This Been An Actual Emergency

At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 13, 2008, a simulated earthquake, 7.8 on the Richter scale, centered on the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault, shook Southern California.

“Golden Guardian,” a statewide California disaster scenario, tested the response capabilities of state, county, and city governmental agencies as well as healthcare representatives.

The San Diego County Medical Operations Center (MOC) is where the entire county’s medical needs are coordinated during a disaster. The seats at the MOC are filled by representatives from:

• County of San Diego Emergency Medical Services
• Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties
• San Diego County Medical Society
• San Diego County Public Information Officers
• Others, Including Fire and Police Departments

SDCMS’ specific role at the MOC involves collecting physician volunteer information and communicating physician availability to the MOC leadership.

SDCMS is in a unique position to assist in deploying physicians during a major catastrophic event. The County must, by law, only deploy physicians who are licensed to practice medicine in the state of California. Physicians who “self-deploy” at a shelter or temporary clinic may be turned away due to the liability they place on themselves and on those running the shelter.

During an actual medical emergency, SDCMS will announce — via email, fax, media, etc. — a call for physician volunteers. When a physician without a San Diego County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer history wants to help by responding to a current disaster with real medical emergencies, they should contact SDCMS. Under an agreement with the County of San Diego, SDCMS is the source for physician volunteers when the need for doctors is greater than the number of pre-registered MRC physician volunteers.

Physicians vetted by SDCMS are placed into the MOC system and require only a proof of identification when they are deployed to the location where they are needed.

While notifying SDCMS about your desire to volunteer during a disaster does not guarantee you will be activated, it is the best way to guarantee that if you are needed, the correct people will know of your availability.

IMPORTANT: To volunteer during an actual disaster, call Tom Gehring, CEO of the San Diego County Medical Society, at (619) 206-8282 (cell phone) or at (858) 565-8888 (SDCMS offices). Tom will take your name, verify your license, and notify the MOC that you are vetted and willing to volunteer.

SDCMS encourages those who would like to volunteer before an actual disaster to take 15–20 minutes today and register as a California Medical Volunteer for San Diego County at https://medicalvolunteer.ca.gov (note: For a speedy registration, have available your licenses and certifications before you begin). Do you want to get more involved? Then join the San Diego County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) by checking the box for MRC during your registration process. Please visit the MRC website at www.sandiegomrc.org to learn more about taking a more active role in your community as a disaster medical volunteer team member. You may also contact Melissa Dredge, MRC volunteer coordinator, at (619) 641-5015 or by email at mrcvolcoord@sdcounty.ca.gov.