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\f0\fs24\cf0 (Music.)\
ROB TOSATTO: Hello, thank\
you. Is anybody having a\
good time? That was lame.\
(louder) Anybody having a\
good time? (crowd cheers.)\
Alright! That's much better.\
Welcome, I'm Rob Tosatto,\
Director of the MRC. I've\
been bouncing around a lot\
here this week, going to the\
workshops, sessions, talking\
to people in the hall, going\
to the regional breakouts\
yesterday, on the walk this\
morning, and I'll tell you\
I'm really seeing so much\
excitement and participation\
from the MRC and the other\
participants. Really all of\
you need to give yourself a\
round of applause for what\
you're bringing to this\
summit. (crowd claps.) I\
want to welcome our special\
Guest, Rear Admiral Boris\
Lushniak, our deputy surgeon\
general, joining us again\
today for our luncheon.\
(crowd claps.) And we need\
to recognize one very\
special person, look over in\
that area. Laura Harrison,\
our meeting planner (crowd\
cheers). Laura is the one\
who probably got most of\
your here for your logistics\
and registration. A big\
thank you to Laura for the\
work that she does. Also, to\
our members of the planning\
committee Katie Hager, Gary\
Brown, and Sam Schaffson, a\
big thank you for the work\
they've done as well. (crowd\
claps.) Of course a big\
thank you to our region 6\
counterparts especially the\
MRC's in the Dallas area and\
Denton County, thank you,\
too to the unit leaders and\
volunteer that are here\
helping us out. (crowd\
claps.) I want to take a\
quick moment to introduce\
some of the MRC staff and I\
use that word staff very\
broadly because there's a\
lot of different members\
that we consider staff.\
There's the federal staff\
that are in uniform. There\
are our contract staff. As\
well our partners through\
cooperative agreements. So I\
want to recognize some of\
these folks. I was debating\
whether to do a\
applause-o-meter to see who\
you liked the best but you\
can applaud when you like.\
First off, I'm Rob Tosatto,\
I'm the director. (crowd\
claps.) I'll start with our\
program operations led by\
Captain Ryan Nair who many\
of you know. (crowd claps.)\
Lt. Commander Sam Schaffson.\
(crowd claps.) and please\
stand when your name is\
called. Lt. j.g. Katie Hager\
(crowd claps.) Gary Brown\
our acting national\
technical assistance\
coordinator. (crowd claps.)\
Grace Middleton, our PIO\
public information officer\
(crowd claps.) Deguela\
Burkes, our communications\
specialist (crowd claps.)\
Many of you know Deguela\
from list serve messages,\
from all those phone calls\
to the national office. On\
our deployment operations\
side, our newest guy on the\
block Commander Patrick\
Dennis. (crowd claps.) Many\
of you know him from his\
work on the OFRD over the\
last several years and we're\
really glad to have him come\
on board with MRC - just\
last month? <reply> Yes <\
Well he's a new guy we can\
continue picking on him. Lt.\
Skip Payne. (crowd claps.)\
Lt. Shakira Peligan. (crowd\
claps.) and somebody you may\
recognize from the video,\
Miss Lon Nguyen, even though\
she's not wearing her red\
dress. (crowd claps.) Now\
I'm going to mix it up on\
the regional coordinators so\
they don't know who's going\
to come next. From region 6,\
our host Stacy Sayer. (crowd\
claps.) From Region 8, Gayle\
Newell. (crowd claps.) From\
Region 5, Melissa\
Watt-Henderson. (crowd\
claps.) and that's hardly\
fair because she has the\
most MRC's in her region.\
From Region 1 Jennifer\
Fernette (crowd claps.)\
Region 3 Karla Mitchell\
(crowd claps.) Region 10\
Jesus Reyna (crowd claps\
louder.) Wow! Go Region 10!\
Okay, Region 2, Kristin\
Lapore (crowd claps.) I see\
I need to do my little cross\
off here. I should have done\
that from the start. Region\
4 Kathy Handra (crowd\
claps.) And from Region 9\
Jill Littlefield. (crowd\
claps.) I'm not going to\
forget Region 7 but I have\
to recognize Gary Brown\
again. Gary Brown from\
Region 7. (crowd claps.)\
Also our project manager\
from ICF is Jackie Tressler.\
(crowd claps.) Now I would\
be remiss if I didn't\
recognize our partners at\
NACHO because as you know,\
our strong relationship that\
we have with NACHO helps put\
this summit on but also all\
the work that we do day to\
day with the capacity\
building awards, with our\
regional meetings and that\
general awareness creating\
an understanding of the MRC.\
So I'd like to introduce\
Jack Herman. (crowd claps.)\
The project lead for MRC at\
NACHO, Deborah Robinson\
(crowd claps.) Tim Siemsen\
(crowd claps.) Jo Ellen\
Warner (crowd claps.)\
Rebecca Garing, many of you\
have contact with Rebecca\
through the capacity\
building awards. (crowd\
claps.) The newest guy on\
the block for NACHO Paul\
Decknik (crowd claps.)\
Chiquita Harriston, who you\
talk to at NACHO any time\
you call about the MRC\
(crowd claps.) Megan\
Scoopien who does all the\
newsletter, the editor\
(crowd claps.) and then\
helping with the summit and\
our regional meetings Ashley\
Mansey (crowd claps.) and\
Francesca Blanco (crowd\
claps.) You know when you\
think about it, that's a lot\
of people at the national\
level helping you to carry\
out your local mission for\
the MRC. And we do our best\
to bring what you need to\
your local MRC's but we're\
here today to listen to you\
a little bit. We decided to\
do a town hall format. We're\
going to have some prepared\
remarks from both Narien and\
Patrick first but if you'll\
remember on the List Serve\
we asked people to submit\
some questions in advance so\
we're gonna answer some of\
those through these\
presentations and then some\
afterwards but then we're\
also gonna open the floor to\
you for questions and\
answers as well. So we have\
three microphones in the\
middle of the room there so\
you can ask questions.\
Really what you're going to\
do is your questions, your\
feedback, your input is\
going to help to drive the\
direction for the entire\
program. So with that I'm\
going to turn it over to\
Narien to talk about program\
operations. NARIEN NAIR:\
Well good afternoon I'm\
Narien Nair with MRC Program\
Operations and if I can get\
the first slide please. So\
basically what I was going\
to talk about today in this\
town hall is talk a little\
bit about how the office of\
the civilian volunteer\
medical reserve corps is\
organized. Talk about what\
we in OCVMRC do and give you\
a little bit of a status\
update about what is going\
on the MRC as a whole. and\
if I can get a show of\
hands. How many people think\
they have a really good\
handle on what OCVMRC does\
and where we fit in relation\
to local units? How many\
people think they really\
understand that well? It's a\
pretty - a pretty - actually\
that's more than I thought.\
I'll see you guys at the\
pool. (crowd laughs) So some\
of the feed back in talking\
especially as we have unit\
leader turnover, you know\
some of the feedback we've\
gotten is that people really\
want to understand our role\
so that'll be the focus of\
these brief remarks.\
Basically we're the federal\
office that supports the\
MRC. Our mission is to\
support local efforts to\
establish, implement, and\
maintain MRC units\
nationwide. And we have 4\
main goals. We want to serve\
as the national voice of the\
MRC Network. We want to\
promote MRC participation at\
all levels. We want to\
support the growth and\
maintenance of the\
nationwide network of the\
MRC units, and we want to\
strengthen our internal\
capacity to support MRC\
units. And basically the way\
we're organized, we're\
headquartered in the U.S.\
Surgeon General's office.\
But we have a dotted line\
relationship with the White\
House Homeland Security\
Council, the department of\
Homeland Security with the\
citizen corps, we're one of\
the citizen corps partners.\
And with HHS ASPER and I\
think that's very evident in\
this integrated summit where\
we work very closely with\
ASPER, we're in the\
Assistant Secretary of\
Health's office and the\
office of the Surgeon\
General. This slide sort of\
gives an outline of our\
staff. We have Rob who's the\
office director, and we're\
kind of broken down into two\
components. Patrick is going\
to talk about the deployment\
side of things. I'll talk\
about the program side. I'm\
the senior program officer.\
We have two other program\
officers. Katie and Sam. Two\
communications specialists\
and we have ten regional\
coordinators and we have a\
national coordinator as well\
who's, Gary's in that role\
currently. So that's sort of\
the way our staff is and\
this you can find on our\
website, this is our\
strategic map. This shows\
our overarching mission, our\
goals, our values, our\
strategic objectives and how\
they tie in to our goals. So\
I'd like everyone to\
memorize this. (crowd\
chuckles) To be reimbursed\
you have to take a test. No\
We have a number of\
performance measures tied to\
these objectives. This is\
all on our website if you\
really want to delve into\
this but I was going to talk\
a little bit about some of\
the most relevant strategic\
objectives. Talk about where\
we are particularly about\
fiscal year 2010. Where we\
stood and then little bit\
about the future directions.\
So one of our main strategic\
objectives is a credible and\
valuable MRC network. One of\
the things we look at is\
media coverage because that\
is key to expand the network\
to make people aware that\
the MRC is credible and\
valuable. In fiscal year\
2010 we saw an increase in\
the amount of media coverage\
and we post these on our\
websites. We had about 107\
media items that we were\
able to capture versus 73 in\
2009 so that's good. We also\
look at the number of units\
and the number of volunteers\
as a measure of the\
credibility and the value of\
the MRC network. Again in\
fiscal year 2010, and even\
though fiscal year 2010\
ended some time ago these\
numbers, I did recently look\
at these and they're pretty\
consistent with the trending\
of what we're looking at for\
the trending for fiscal year\
2011. The number of MRC\
units increased nearly 10%\
in fiscal year 2010 and the\
number of volunteers\
increased 11% so we're\
seeing continued growth and\
these next few slides show\
from basically 2002 how the\
MRC has tremendous growth\
under Rob's leadership.\
We've seen that we're now in\
all 50 states and in many of\
the territories. I was\
giving a talk once and\
realized that slide was like\
a cancer metastasizing and I\
realized that wasn't a good\
analogy (laughs). But it's a\
good thing when we see the\
spread of that. We also look\
at the jurisdiction coverage\
as well. These dots that\
represent MRC units they\
represent a jurisdiction\
that we cover so we look at\
the jurisdictions that are\
covered and we also look at\
gaps where we don't have\
folks, where we don't have\
MRC units. So I think for\
the future, what we are\
seeing we anticipate\
probably a decrease in the\
rate of growth, a saturation\
in some of the jurisdictions\
we have covered. In some\
areas there's a struggle\
with some of the budgetary\
challenges with running an\
MRC unit so we anticipate\
that we're not going to have\
the continued rate of growth\
that we've had. It might\
slow down but what we're\
looking at is really\
targeting growth and we've\
developed a kind of mapping\
technology, a GIS technology\
where we look at population\
density versus coverage with\
an MRC unit and we're gonna\
try and target some areas\
that are very dense in\
population but may not\
already have an MRC unit. So\
that's kind of the future\
with regards to that.\
Another main objective is\
engage satisfied MRC unit\
leaders and we measure that\
by looking at how engaged\
MRC units are. 94% of you\
mentioned that you have\
participated in an MRC unit\
either by coming to meetings\
here or by connecting on our\
list serve or some of our\
other forums. What we're\
looking at for the future is\
we want to know how well\
we're doing so we're looking\
at developing some customer\
satisfaction tools so that\
when you contact our office\
we can find out if you were\
happy with the response,\
with the timeliness of the\
response. We've also worked\
with our partners at NACHO\
in doing some social\
marketing research. Talking\
to unit leaders, new unit\
leaders, seasoned unit\
leaders, prospective\
volunteers, existing\
volunteers and seeing what\
their perception of the MRC\
is and how we can best\
direct our future messaging.\
So those are some things\
that we have in the future.\
Another objective is\
advancing the priorities of\
the department of health and\
human services. You saw the\
surgeon general at the\
opening session outline what\
her priorities are. We want\
to make sure that we are\
closely aligned in\
supporting those priorities\
so we look at the MRC\
activities and you see here\
again we had growth in those\
activities. In particular in\
public health versus 2009,\
in 2010 we had a significant\
growth in the public health\
activities. I hope people\
got the chance to see Dr.\
Kind's presentation this\
morning but you know we\
really feel strongly that\
there's this perception that\
there's a schism between\
preparedness and public\
health. Really we feel that\
they both compliment each\
other and there's a lot of\
synergy. A community that\
has a strong robust public\
health program will be very\
well prepared should an\
incident occur. So we look\
at those things. For the\
future, we anticipate that\
trend to continue, that\
we'll see increasing public\
health activities for many\
MRC units. As many of you\
know, we've simplified the\
activity reporting and we\
continue to tinker with that\
so that we get information\
that's helpful but it's not\
overbearing or too much of a\
demand for the unit leaders.\
We know how extremely busy\
you are so we want to make\
sure we get relevant\
information without tasking\
you too much. Enable\
information sharing. This is\
something that's one of our\
major objectives, again we\
have a two way list serve\
and in 2010 we had 831\
subscribers and about 811\
messages. A lot of good\
information passes back and\
forth on that two way list\
serve. We have these in\
person meetings like we have\
this. We sponsored 15\
meetings, workshops,\
trainings as a way of you\
all to network with each\
other because that's an\
important component of\
learning. To find out what\
your fellow unit leaders,\
how they're handling some of\
these issues that may be\
similar. And then we have\
the website. The website had\
280,000 visits in the fiscal\
year 2010 and we're on track\
to probably exceed that for\
2011. But we're looking at\
redesigning the website. Our\
current website has just a\
tremendous amount of\
information on there. It's\
very helpful but it's tough\
to find, even we in the\
office have trouble finding\
things there so we're\
looking at redesigning it\
and this is the sneak peak\
at what the redesign will\
look like when it launches.\
Our communication staff's\
worked very very hard on\
this. Basically it will be\
nice. If you're a volunteer,\
there'll be an area you can\
click on to learn about\
volunteering with the MRC.\
If you're a unit leader, you\
can click on this area and\
it will have the most\
relevant information. If\
you're a partner, you can\
click on that. We'll have a\
photo gallery that you can\
look at pictures. We'll have\
a video gallery, we'll be\
posting videos. So I think\
those are some of the things\
that'll be nice features for\
the website redesign. I\
think it'll be a lot cleaner\
and streamlined and people\
will have a much easier time\
of finding things and I\
think our goal is launch\
that by the end of this\
month. So look for that.\
Other things we're looking\
at is we've started the MRC\
twitter account. How many\
folks use twitter? So\
twitter for those who don't\
know is a micro blogging\
kind of a social networking\
tool. A lot of government\
agencies have started to use\
it. Basically instead of\
clicking on the CDC webpage\
or clicking on whatever\
government webpage or\
whatever institution you're\
interested in, you can set\
up a twitter account and\
you'll get updates\
continuously in what they're\
doing and we're sending out\
twitter messages. I guess\
they're called tweets that\
word sounds funny to me but\
they were sending out tweets\
even today we've sent about\
the run and about this\
meeting, about things. So I\
encourage you all. You also\
should have gotten a post\
card at the luncheon\
yesterday that tells you how\
to set up a twitter account.\
It's totally free and it's\
very vey easy. Basically\
you'll be able to learn\
about what activities we're\
doing and the link when we\
posted resources that'll\
very easy tool to use. And\
came across the federal\
government you know a lot of\
institutions are using it.\
We're gonna launch a\
Facebook page later this\
year. And that I think will\
be very helpful for\
recruiting in particular\
we're looking at youth\
outreach. I think Facebook\
is really again this is\
another tool that the\
government is using more and\
more social networking. I\
think there was like 500\
million people that are on\
Facebook and so look for\
that. Again that will be a\
tool that will help us share\
information all these\
things. The goal is again to\
share information. Other\
things that we're looking at\
is probably doing more kind\
of webinars, podcast, those\
kind of things I think down\
the road in later this year\
that we're hoping to do with\
the over arching goal of\
you know engaging you in\
sharing as much information\
as possible. You know we've\
talked a lot about our\
partnerships and leveraging\
strategic relationships\
that's key in our strategic\
plan and we have a\
partnership with the Public\
Health Foundation and we use\
a learning management system\
called MRC Train. We've got\
actually currently about 20\
thousand users and this is\
online courses that people\
can take free of charge. If\
they sign up for this MRC\
Train just being members of\
an MRC enables them to sign\
up. For many of these online\
courses you can get\
continuing education\
credits. So it's a great\
resource. We have a very\
strong partnership with\
Health Occupation students\
of America. Part of our sort\
of engaging youth initiative\
and it's been tremendous\
working with them. This is\
an organization that house\
mainly in secondary\
education schools\
encouraging young people to\
seek out health professions\
and learn more about that.\
Down the line, we're looking\
in strengthening our\
partnership with Community\
Health Centers. Community\
health centers there are\
many of them are federally\
funded they've served about\
20 million Americans.\
These are the -- in some\
cases the most vulnerable in\
the population. They are\
underserved, uninsured or\
under insured and it seems\
the natural fit that MRC\
units could partner with\
community health centers. So\
that's something we're\
looking at exploring either\
community health centers\
housing in MRC or partnering\
with existing MRC because\
both of them have that\
focused on community and\
community resilience. One of\
our sister offices in the\
Office of the Assistant\
Secretary for Health is the\
Office of Minority Health\
and they are very interested\
in reducing vulnerable\
populations or reducing\
their vulnerability to\
disasters and so we're\
looking at future\
partnership with them and\
possibly targeting a few\
communities and starting\
some initiatives there to\
reduce vulnerabilities.\
Outreach activities in\
fiscal year 2010, we did\
about 54 conferences, we\
have 6 articles that we\
contributed to the authors,\
we run 3 advertisments \
actually we're -- I look at\
there are benchmarks for\
2011 we're actually going to\
exceed that we really done a\
lot of speaking conferences\
and things for this year so\
we're trying to put\
ourselves out there and\
service that national voice\
for the MRC. And that's all\
I have. I'll turn it over to\
Patrick and then at the end\
of Patrick's speech we'll be\
open for questions and we'll\
answer some of the\
presubmitted questions as\
well. (People clapping.)\
PATRICK: Thank you Capt.\
Nair. How are you guys doing\
today? People: Great.\
PATRICK: Come on. I know you\
just ate but, all right. I\
just have to say being the\
new guy on the block that\
you guys keep me on my toes\
since I've been here. So\
it's been very very exciting\
to see you all here and I'd\
have several opportunities\
to talk to you all. I just\
want to bring in a few of my\
slides here that we've\
talked about before but I\
wanna reiterate again for\
deployment ops. First thing\
I wanted to say is that I\
just wanted to make sure\
that currently the federal\
deployment cadre is still a\
demonstration project. With\
that we're still looking to\
strives to make sure that\
with all the challenges we\
had we're moving this\
project forward and making\
sure that it is. The thing\
that I want to stress the\
most is that you all are\
part of the FDC, our local\
assets. Very much local\
assets. All the training\
that you received, all of\
the other things that we're\
doing is for you to make\
your local asset, your local\
MRC more robust, okay? More\
resilient in that fashion.\
If necessary, if necessarily\
the federal emergency\
response is necessary, the\
secretary will activate\
that. But first and\
foremost, when this to\
happen, you need to be WAA\
that's right. I said it. You\
need to be waa. What does\
that mean? You have to be\
willing, able and approved,\
okay? And someone asked me\
whose gonna prove that?\
Whoever needs to approve you\
to move to the next level so\
I can be notified. Does\
everyone understand? So the\
first question is, are you\
WAA? All right. Willing?\
Now, I understand willing is\
always gonna be the first\
one but second to Able. If\
you have a broken leg, now,\
you're not able. Okay? If\
you're in Africa, you're not\
able, okay? So there are\
things that are gonna be\
there that might hinder you.\
That is not a penalty, all\
right? You're not gonna be\
penalized and put into the\
blocked list somewhere. No,\
that's not going to happen.\
We're gonna make sure the\
next time an opportunity or\
you needs come up will be\
available as well so I just\
want to make sure that we\
can put that out there. The\
next thing I wanted to talk\
about is about the one week\
introductory training course\
session that we have. Talks\
about the deployment\
capabilities and the\
realities of that and talks\
about particularly how do\
you fit in within the ESF#8\
structure? It is very\
complicated structure. Those\
of you know I've done it, I\
did a rope exercise. I\
didn't even use the other\
hundred ropes that it\
normally go along. It's very\
complicated and\
understanding that you're\
moving federal assets to\
assist local assets. So the\
mind-set is that you are\
moving from your local MRC\
where you know everyone\
around you and now we're\
asking you we're taking you\
as a federal asset asking\
you to augment a federal\
team with the NDMS or the\
Public Health Service and to\
provide the same level of\
professionalism that you do\
every day. So it's a\
different unique thing and\
that's where the 4R's of\
resiliency coming for you.\
You need to be robust. You\
need to be redundant. And\
you need to make sure that\
you have, what?\
Resourcefulness. Okay? And a\
rapid response, the\
rapidity. Meaning that were\
keeping clear communication\
that as we advise you and\
let you know what's going on\
that you also reply back to\
us to make sure that\
everything's okay, that\
you're getting an e-mail in\
that fashion. Next slide\
here is from our spring\
introductory course where\
we're doing an exercise and\
I just snap shot I want sure\
picture of actually some of\
you guys in action doing\
some of these things here. I\
cannot read the name, I\
think it's Andria is the\
first name and this was\
taken in the Spring 2000\
over the national park by\
the monument, the Washington\
monument. So again he team\
putting some good training\
together. That's a mass\
casualty training as you can\
see tagging and figuring out\
where people need to go.\
Actors were in great demand\
in there and that was a good\
plus. So I just want to show\
the picture. This next slide\
really kind of gives you a\
breakdown of where most of\
the FDC members are actually\
their professions are. I\
think the thing that I\
wanted to highlight here is\
that as we talk about the\
FDC it is not just made up\
of clinicians, all right? It\
is also made up of the\
other, the supported staff.\
When you see that other\
that's 47 that is the\
supported staff. Very\
important. For every one\
clinician you at least need\
4 supported staff members.\
Another way of looking at is\
as you all understand ICS,\
you need to make sure that\
you have what? Planning,\
logistics and admin and\
finance support to make sure\
that that mission continuous\
on. So these are just some\
of those key things that are\
there. It's very important\
that in the others 2\
category one other category\
is do you think might be\
there, perhaps environmental\
health, perhaps a dentist,\
perhaps a phlebotomist to\
help the lab technician so\
it's very important that we\
understand that. When I\
looked at that slide, the\
first thing that comes to my\
mind is everyone there\
irregardless of your\
profession, you are all\
responders. That's what I\
want to make sure that we\
walk away from here is not\
clinicians versus others, it\
will be all responders. Each\
and every one of us can\
certainly hook up an IV bag,\
help feed the patient or\
certainly take them and help\
them with some of their\
daily activities. Last but\
not the least, again I just\
want to make sure that the\
individuals that are in the\
FDC are going to be\
augmentees for the existing\
responses we spoke about.\
We're literally going to be\
as I like to say plug and\
play. So we're gonna take\
the individuals based on the\
skills sets needed and then\
we will just have to take\
you and then you will just\
augment as federal employee\
augmentee in that fashion.\
Very important to understand\
to make that team a little\
bit more resilient. Here is\
pretty much as we look\
further down we're trying to\
make sure that we coordinate\
with inter agencies, ESF#8\
partners and agencies. It's\
very very important that we\
try to make sure that we\
understand this. The more\
that we can understand the\
more that we can learn about\
our other partners in ESF#8\
and they know about what we\
can provide. The one thing\
the one caviat that I like\
to say is that really the\
FDC members are going to be\
used in a catestrophic\
event. Don't think of that\
as a singular event think of\
that as when the resources\
that are already being\
applied to for the response\
has now been pretty much\
exhausted. Okay and the FDCs\
are gonna be brought to bare\
those provide that augmentee\
status and provide that\
level of expertise that they\
bring every day. And here\
are some questions that were\
forwarded to us and I'd like\
to address them. The first\
question is: Is there a plan\
to integrate training in the\
future within NDMS teams and\
eligible deployable\
ESAR-VIP, MRC members? The\
key aspect here is that\
there's no written plan\
right now to do so. All\
right? As I said, my\
previous slide that is my\
crystal ball so to speak in\
that as we start\
coordinating and working\
with other agencies and\
having them understand what\
we can do and what not we\
can make sure we can bring\
that to bear and understand\
that the eligible deployment\
MRC members are available to\
them in different capacities\
that we have with our\
different professions. So\
that's one thing that I\
wanted to say. We're working\
towards that. There is no\
written plan so to speak but\
for sure we are looking to\
coordinate in the future\
with that. The next question\
was a two-part question. Is\
there a plan or intention in\
the future to integrate\
assign to a specific team IE\
RDF-3. In RDF-3 is a rapid\
deployment force that the\
United States Public Health\
Service has as a team. It's\
about 105 team member and\
it's predominant in 90%\
clinicians that are on\
there. They also make up the\
other aspects of public\
health and of surveillances\
as well. The FDC into\
specific other response\
teams where we would\
actually be on call with\
that team. I think the first\
thing again there is no\
written plan but I think the\
most important thing here is\
understanding as we work in\
these partners to see that\
that what is going to be the\
best way to make to ensure\
that we provide the best\
possible assets to these\
teams as we address the fact\
about, the fact that there\
would be a on call status.\
That is not right now on the\
table so to speak. We only\
have 200 members as you saw\
in that one slide, 200\
members. The system needs to\
be a little bit more robust\
for us. We even start to\
consider those aspects as we\
move forward. Remember again\
that's a demonstration\
project, we're just trying\
to make sure that we work\
out all the kinks and there\
were efficient and effective\
by the way we use our\
assets. The second part talks\
about are there intentions or\
plans to use the FDC\
internationally? That's a\
great great question and the\
fact that I would strike the\
word intentions. I would say\
discussion, at this point.\
Just like at any domestic\
response there should be a\
discussion about that and\
how volunteers can assist in\
an international response\
and understand that the same\
mechanisms that we would use\
that for domestic would be\
applied to international.\
And I think that's the best\
way to answer that question\
as we don't even have an\
international response\
framework in place so it's\
very difficult to start\
having intentions and plans\
when we don't even have that\
discussion or even a\
framework so to speak of.\
Those were the only 2\
questions that were post to\
us that I wanted to make\
sure that we answer -- that\
I answer from the deployment\
ops. Here is my contact\
information, the one thing\
that I would like to stress\
to all of you, if you have\
any questions the best way\
is that to go ahead to the\
website, under MRC\
deployment where the\
frequently asked questions\
and answers are there please\
take a time to just read the\
few of them and hopefully\
your -- it's broken down\
into categories and the\
questions are very detailed.\
Again you can also, we have\
our twitter account as well\
and our MRC General\
Deployment e-mail address.\
And I turn over to you Capt.\
Tosatto. Thank you. (People\
clapping.) CAPT. TOSATTO:\
Now we understand that those\
are very brief overviews for\
both the program operations\
and deployment operations\
but it gives you a sense of\
what you know some of the\
things that we are doing\
within the office and we\
understand that many of you\
still have questions and\
concerns and issues that\
you'd like to discuss. We're\
gonna open the floor now.\
There were more submitted\
questions and we heard some\
common themes through the\
regional break out\
yesterday. I can't decide\
which on was the most\
popular but it was either\
funding or liability. So\
when I take a quick chat on\
the funding question just\
what does the future funding\
for the MRC Program look\
like? I know Admiral\
Lushniak can address this\
and a lot of the regional\
breakout sessions yesterday\
but just so that everybody\
has the answer. We have to\
face the reality that there\
are you know a lot of\
concerns about the federal\
budget right now. And that\
everything you know,\
everything on the federal\
budget is being looked at\
very very closely. For our\
FY11 funds which as you know\
we just avoid a government\
shutdown, we are looking at\
hopefully the same budget\
that we had last year so\
we'll continue operations as\
are with the same budget.\
For FY12 I think we're\
looking at you know a\
minimum probably of a 10%\
cut in our budget. What does\
that mean to you? I think is\
we're looking at various\
options. You know as you\
know we like to get as much\
of our budget out to you as\
possible through the\
capacity building awards\
that we have in the\
cooperative agreement with\
NACHO through scholarships to\
the integrated training\
summit to the regional\
meetings to the other\
meetings like the public\
health preparedness summit.\
We hope to continue as many\
of those in the future as\
possible. However we may\
need to look at you know the\
eligibility requirements.\
Look at the way we\
distribute those funds. So\
again there would likely be\
some budget cut at the\
national level but we will\
hope to absorb that as much\
as possible through the kind\
of the national level effort\
and get as much money out to\
you as possible. The other\
popular question is of\
course liability, legal\
protections for volunteers\
for MRC units. As you know\
this has been the common theme\
since the beginning of the\
program. You know that all\
MRCs are working under a\
patchwork of legal\
protections. Some are very\
blessed to have their, you\
know, their local health\
department, local EMA, some\
other organization basically\
deemed to MRC members has\
employees for the purposes\
of legal protection, some\
workman's comp. But that is\
very rare so most MRCs are\
functioning under state\
legislation of some sort\
whether it's a Volunteer\
Protection Act of the state\
or Disaster Declaration.\
Some MRCs are functioning\
under the National Level\
Volunteer Protection Act.\
Unfortunately, many of those\
don't provide that you know,\
that assurance to many\
potential volunteers\
especially health\
professionals, especially\
physicians that they would\
be protected in the event of\
their utilization. Many of\
the state laws provide\
protections, very good\
protections but it's only\
during a declared disaster\
not during training events\
with live patients not under\
those on-going public health\
activities that I think are\
so important for MRC to get\
involve in. Please know that\
you know I personally in my\
team and our leadership is\
consistently trying to get\
this look at at the national\
level. You know I've tried\
every opportunity I can to\
bring this up in\
conversations with our\
leadership within then\
department with our White\
House conversations as well.\
The Pandemic and All-Hazards\
Preparedness Act, I thought\
was a great venue or a great\
vehicle for getting this at\
least to expose to our\
congress members,\
unfortunately I was not able\
to get it into the package\
that is going outside of the\
Department of Health and\
Human Services to congress.\
So again I call on all of\
you and I think Admiral\
Lushniak made this very\
clear yesterday that this is\
a joint effort of you know\
the national office but also\
each of you using your voice\
and making sure your\
volunteers use their voices\
as well. To make sure that\
it is known that it is an\
issue is a concern for the\
MRC to make this happen. Why\
don't we take some questions\
please step up to one of the\
microphones. Let us know\
what you are thinking. This\
is the town hall. Let us\
know what you're thinking.\
Do you have questions? Do\
you have concerns? Do you\
have things you want to say\
to your other members? Over\
here. QUESTION 1: Thank you.\
In an effort to be able to\
more effectively serve\
vulnerable populations, what\
are the possibilities of\
adopting at the national MRC\
9th core competency of\
cultural competence? CAPT.\
TOSATTO: I think that's a\
great idea. So the idea of\
adding cultural competence\
to the MRC core competencies\
I think that's a fantastic idea\
and I think it's\
something that many MRCs are \
conducting training on cultural\
competance and I think\
it is something that is very\
important to all of us, so\
I think that has been noted,\
on the note taker over here that\
we need to get that in there\
Other questions, concerns? Come\
on guys, don't be shy. You don't\
want to just look at us up here.\
(People laughing) I'll  make\
Ryan dance, you don't want to\
see that (People laughing)\
There is a question over there,\
QUESTION 2: Well, maybe I\
can get the ball rolling. \
We know that an ounce of\
prevention is worth a pound of\
cure and as we heard this\
morning a dollar of\
prevention pays\
perhaps $10 saved in\
response money, is the\
national office going to\
be more proactive in\
promoting prevention and\
risk reduction activities\
for MRC units to take part \
in? CAPT. TOSATTO: I'll\
handle this one, absolutely.\
100% yes. For those of you\
who have attended the\
regional meetings this year\
I've brought this up\
in all of my talks on the\
state of the MRC, I think\
this is the way we need to\
go, not just we ought to go\
but we need to go for the\
MRC to be involved in more\
of those activities that\
help to reduce exposures\
that help to reduce\
susceptibility, that help to\
build resilience. This is\
absolutely the way to go.\
For those MRCs that are, you\
know, have that focus on\
response and recovery,\
continue that. But you need\
to make that connection with\
that public health to reduce\
those susceptibilities.\
If you're getting\
push back from your\
leadership and saying well\
you know our MRC is only for,\
you know, response. Remind them\
just of that there are things\
we can do to reduce those\
susceptibilities, reduce\
that disaster risk in our\
communities so hopefully we\
don't see as many people\
affected by the disaster.\
You know that is going to\
help everybody and\
ultimately reduce the costs.\
So yes, absolutely 100%, I\
will promote that and we \
will promote that.\
SPEAKER:  It's the side of the\
room Captain Tosatto.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: come back in\
middle here. \
Come back in the\
middle, you're next\
SPEAKER: There's an old saying\
that you love a man in\
uniform and I'm curious how\
many people in the audience\
have served our county in a\
uniform? Raise your hand if\
you've served in uniform.\
(People clapping.) \
Thank you for your\
service. And I would\
encourage all of the MRC units\
in the audience to reach out\
to the veterans in your\
community I think we're\
really lucky at this\
conference that the Veterans\
Emergency Management folks\
are here as well and I can \
think of nobody in our\
country that understands\
chain of command, logistics,\
communications and\
everything else better than\
the people that have served\
in the uniform for our\
country and I'de encourage all\
of you in your communities\
to reach out to the veterans\
and encourage them to join\
our MRCs and support this\
effort. CAPT. TOSATTO:\
Absolutely Anne and to even,\
I will build on what Anna is\
saying is that not only\
reach out to the veterans\
but in joining your MRC but\
also reach out to the\
veterans and military\
families in your communities\
and see what services you\
can provide. I know there\
are many organizations that\
provide services for\
military families for\
returning war fighters but\
again there may be a role\
for your MRC there as well.\
If you don't ask you don't\
know so please ask about\
that as well, great comment.\
QUESTION 4: Yes, what is\
your and the admirals\
visionary picture of where\
MRC should be 2 to 5 years\
from now and to help us at\
the local level planning\
from the federal\
perspective?\
CAPT. TOSATTO:  Okay. That's a\
realy good question.\
I think one of the first things\
where MRC needs to go\
is we need to do our\
strategic planning. I think\
we all need to remember that\
you know, each MRC unit\
needs to have it's map, it's\
goals, its subjectives, its\
strategic direction because\
without that we're just you\
know you're just wondering\
in the forest, you need to\
have that direction. So I\
think that is the first\
thing and that's one of the\
areas that we at the\
national level are really\
promoting is that strategic\
planning. We did have a\
group form -- with our\
cooperative agreement with \
NACCHO looking just at that,\
that strategic mapping\
making sure that all MRC\
units have that clear direction\
and again remembering that this\
is a local\
program making sure that\
each MRC is meeting -- you\
know first identifying those\
local needs, working with\
their community and identify\
the local needs and\
vulnerabilities, the hazards and\
then designing the MRC's\
to best fit, that to best fit\
those needs, so I think that\
is absolutely the first key I\
would encourage all of you is,\
I want to see 5 years from\
now every MRC unit\
having a clearly defined\
mission\
clearly defined goals,\
cleary defined\
objectives and then you know\
litterally what's gonna happen\
out of that is we are going\
to see a tremendous impact.\
We are already seeing\
impact. Obviously we're\
seeing lots of\
anecdotes of what MRC's are \
doing over here. MRCs are\
doing over there. \
Ryan showed the slides of the\
MRC activities this past year\
and almost 10,000 activities\
in FY10. That's incredible.\
Each one of those has an\
individual story. So one of\
the other things I think we\
need though is a research\
based for the MRC. We need\
to see more MRC's that are\
working with their\
university partners or\
making those partnerships\
with universities, getting\
interns, getting some of\
those students that are\
looking for master's thesis\
or a doctoral thesis.\
Working with the MRC to\
look at some of those\
research questions to\
clearly show that impact\
that MRCs have in their\
communities. Get those\
published out there. So\
there are some of my ideas.\
QUESTION 5: First and\
foremost, I want to say\
thank you to the office and\
to NACCHO for all the\
support they give us. Without\
it we wouldn't be in here.\
(People clapping.)\
QUESTION 5: And my question\
goes around the deployment\
training as a local unit\
leader we get the\
possibilities just sign up a\
but I also have disability\
and some of us are just you\
know, I'm a nurse but I'm\
not travelling because I'm\
an administrator now. As\
much as I'd like to. What we\
would kinda like to see is\
have that broken down into\
something maybe comes to the\
state or region that give us\
an overview (People\
clapping) of what you're\
training our people for\
rather than take a place\
that we could send somebody\
who is deployable.\
PATRICK: So that's a very good\
point that you bring up as we\
try to look at different ways\
to push that training down\
to the local level and\
that's not the first comment\
that I've heard that we've\
done that. We're looking at\
different venues. One of\
them would be MRC training\
to try to provide some of\
that feedback right there,\
that's the first thing. And\
I think the second thing is\
perhaps, maybe at a\
regional\
perhaps, venue\
that we are looking\
at different areas to look at,\
to provide some of that basic\
information and some basic\
training for right now and\
start building up to that\
and then perhaps task the\
deployment work group with\
perhaps coming up with a\
curriculum that will be\
appropriate for the local\
level and start building that\
up into an advance level.\
Okay? QUESTION 5: Thank\
you. PATRICK: Thank you.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: One of\
the key things we remember\
is Patrick's first slide that\
says the federal deployment\
cadre is a demonstration\
project. PATRICK: Right\
CAPT. TOSATTO: So we're\
currently looking at the best\
mechanisms for all of this.\
In the middle. QUESTION 6:\
This is for Patrick also.\
Patrick, is it possible for\
those of us that did go\
through and our part of that\
federal cadre to continue our\
training like with table tops or\
something where we could either\
regionally or pick a weekend\
and we all stay home\
connected to our computer\
and we kinda go through a\
process so that we also keep\
ourselves abreast of what \
you want us to be and do?\
PATRICK: Again, I think that\
is an excellent opportunity\
and the note taker will\
bring that down. I think one\
of the things as Capt.\
Tosatto said, it is a\
demonstration project. So as\
we are moving forward and\
trying to looking at these\
things, your input and\
your feedback right now is\
what we're gonna take into\
consideration but one of the\
things is you have to be\
very mindful of the capacity\
of what we can do right now.\
That doesn't mean that we're\
not looking for it and as\
we talk about strategic\
planning and our strategic\
objectives, that's one of\
the things that we'll\
probably take into\
consideration as we move\
forward. I think it's an\
excellent idea finding a\
mechanism to do that would\
be an opportunity to do that\
also not just for you all\
but maybe trickle down for\
some other areas to as well.\
QUESTION 6: Bring those\
vista volunteers in --\
PATRICK: Okay QUESTION 6: --\
you know and put them all to\
work. Thanks PATRICK: Thank\
you very much for your\
input. CAPT. TOSATTO:\
Actually you bring up a\
great point. I know we have\
a number of AmeriCorps vista\
volunteers in the audience,\
can we get them to stand for a\
moment? (People clapping.)\
CAPT. TOSATTO: this is\
another relationship that\
we've really been developing\
for a number of years and\
Washington and\
Oregon have really been the\
leaders in getting that program\
going so we do want to encourage\
all of you to reach out to your\
AmeriCorps programs in your\
states and see about getting\
AmeriCorps vista volunteer\
to assist with your MRC to\
help with a lot of those\
activities that are needed\
for leadership. I know many\
MRC leaders are very part\
time in their role. You're\
wearing many hats and having\
a vista volunteer dedicated\
to your MRC to some of those\
administrative functions can\
really help out. Sir?\
QUESTION 7: My question is,\
I guess it was about 6\
months or so ago, I got a\
report that my, and I'm sure\
that other people have gotten\
this too, that my background\
check was completed and I really\
was who I thought I was. (Laugh)\
My question is, what next?\
CAPT. TOSATTO: Is this with\
the federal deployment\
cadre? QUESTION 7: That's\
correct. CAPT. TOSATTO: Okay\
QUESTION 7: That's correct.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: I'll address\
that to Patrick. \
PATRICK:  Thank you. So you were\
notified that your\
background check was\
complete, correct? Is that\
what you said? QUESTION 7:\
Correct. PATRICK: Okay, all\
right. So there is a the\
hold ACT kind of acronym\
that we use. First of all,\
approval. Your second thing\
is the credentialing - The\
third would be the training\
and now the screening\
process. So your background\
check has been done. What we\
have to do is make sure that \
we have checked whether your\
HR status is. That is an\
internal process that we're\
going to review as we are\
looking at doing all of\
those steps. I would -- we\
should get your name and we\
will follow up on that and\
then we will be blasting out\
an e-mail to everyone and\
finding out, letting them\
know what their status is so\
we can continue on with the\
process so you can become\
complete. QUESTION 7: Thank\
you. PATRICK: You're welcome.\
QUESTION 8: As\
Captain, excuse me , sorry,\
Capt. Tosatto said earlier\
is that nature place a very\
important role in the\
cooperative agreement\
supporting their program and\
office and one thing we've\
undertaken at this point in\
time is our social marketing\
project which have a lot of\
future implications for both\
awareness and different\
types of activities\
associated with the MRC\
nationwide. One thing we're\
really struggling with right at\
this point in time is the\
need to speak with\
physicians and respiratory\
therapist for some phone\
surveys so I would ask the\
group here and sorry\
gentlemen this one isn't for\
you but the group here is if\
you can identify some\
potential POCs for us with\
their names and phone\
numbers that we can speak to\
some physicians and\
respiratory therapist to\
wrap up this project so we\
can move it forward as\
quickly as possible. You can\
e-mail me directly at\
drobinson@naccho.org again\
it's drobinson@naccho.org\
and we'll get that probably\
done in the next couple of\
weeks if we have willing\
participates so we\
appreciate that.\
CAPT TOSATTO: Okay. Ryan has one\
of the submitted questions\
that he is going to address.\
SPEAKER 3: One question that\
was submitted to us by\
e-mail talked about what the\
MRC role is in the one\
health initiative? I don't\
know how many people are\
familiar with the one health\
initiative. Basically, it's\
this concept that multiple\
disciplines should work\
together to solve these\
complex health issues and in\
particular it focuses on the\
medical and veterinary\
disciplines but really it\
cuts across dental and\
nursing and all that other\
related professions. And\
where we see MRC\
fitting in as -- I think\
actually MRC is sort of as\
set the bar for this because\
many we have veterinary MRC\
units, and also we have a\
number of MRC units that are\
already incorporate\
veterinarians and so I would\
encourage those MRC units\
that don't to think about\
sort of those types of\
professions including\
veterinary tecs that are on\
you know as part of your\
unit, the veterinarians as\
part of your units because\
they can help you know when\
you are faced with these\
problems, these complex\
issues, sometimes this\
multidisciplinary approach\
can really help come up with\
solutions that are outside\
the box. And it helps to\
bring this disciplines\
together so that's sort of an\
answer to that question that\
was submitted by e-mail.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: Excellent - Right\
here in the center.\
QUESTION 8: As a fairly new\
unit leader and\
leader of a unit with\
limited funding streams\
I was curious is there a\
possibility of creating a\
standardized marketing tool\
kit so to speak that unit\
leaders can customize with\
their unit information and\
contact information?\
CAPT TOSATTO: I am going to\
let Ryan answer this one\
- RYAN: So the question\
is there a tool kit\
for new unit leaders?\
QUESTION 8: Particularly for\
marketing campaigns. RYAN:\
For marketing campaigns?\
RYAN: Okay, excellent. Yeah.\
Deb mentioned with this\
agreement with NACCHO we\
hired sort of a think tank\
kind of contractor to look\
at a sort of social\
marketing concepts and how\
we should market the MRC.\
And  they are doing this\
focused interview so please\
if you have people that meet\
those criteria she specified\
that would help us a lot.\
Once we have their report,\
we're gonna come up with\
kind of a marketing\
communications plan. It's\
gonna be all encompassing\
it's gonna have social media\
with twitter, we'll have\
facebook up\
and running and then we're\
gonna you know implement\
some of that messaging on\
our website and also we're\
looking at multimedia. We\
have a couple of videos that\
we posted on the website.\
We're looking at doing more,\
looking at webinars, we're\
looking at podcasts, all\
these things hopefully to\
help and I think for the new\
unit leader, once we have\
the website re-designed\
we'll have a sort of one\
click shopping where you'll\
be able to click and say\
here is all the recruiting\
marketing tools that the\
office had developed and\
here is the one the works\
for me. And you should feel\
free to reach out to\
fellow unit leaders through\
the list serve or through\
the twitter account or reach\
out to your regional\
coordinator because a lot of\
times the simplest thing is\
just not to reinvent the\
wheel. There are other unit\
leaders who are in the same\
place and they already\
developed tools and one\
thing about the MRC\
community is that they are\
sharing and very giving\
and love to share things\
that they've created. So I\
encourage you to do that.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: One thing to\
add to that is reach out to\
your regional coordinator as\
well, they are great\
resource. - I think -- overhere\
first. \
QUESTION 9: I seem to be full\
of questions today, just to\
follow up on some of the\
earlier comments about the\
federal deployment cadre.\
We've heard at some MRC\
meetings for example that\
projects, exercises \
like Operation Loan Star\
need personnel. But there are\
real licensing and logistic\
issues about groups\
especially outside the state\
participating. Might in this\
demonstration project might be\
the federal deployment group\
be perhaps employed in a\
functional exercise where\
they could support some of\
these regional activities and\
do some good and really work on\
the kind of exercising that\
we need to do? CAPT.\
TOSATTO: We would love to\
unfortunately, the\
authorization in PAHPA the\
Pandemic and All-Hazard\
Preparedness Act specified\
that the federal --\
the authorization was for\
public health emergencies.\
They neglected to put in\
training. So that limits our\
ability so I mentioned\
earlier that we are trying\
to get the broad MRC legal\
protection piece into the\
PAHPA reauthorization that\
didn't go through. We are also\
trying another piece,\
getting in better wording,\
and improved wording for the\
federal deployment cadre.\
There are couple of problems\
with that. One is they have to\
be highered as intermittent\
disaster personnel that's a\
very burdensome, costly time\
consuming process. We are\
trying to get the\
authorization to say they could\
be federal volunteers making\
it much easier process. The\
second thing is to try to\
get so that the federal\
deployment cadre can be used\
for things like training\
for you know emergency --\
federal level emergency\
responses of course but then\
also maybe instances where\
they could be used in other\
federal needs as well. So\
we're still working on that\
one. I'm a little bit more\
hopeful that that one might\
go through. QUESTION 10: How\
are you doing?\
CAPT TOSATTO: Good. QUESTION 10:\
I have 2 comments. Number 1:\
I did not submit the\
question about one health\
and the MRC, right up front\
however I will tack on to\
that perhaps an information\
you're unaware of. I believe\
in the next issue of the One\
Health Newsletter which is an\
international newsletter.\
There is actually gonna be a\
handy dandy article on\
engaging veterinarians in\
your community and public health\
preparedness and response\
including incorporating them\
in your local MRC unit.\
CAPT. TOSATTO: Excellent.\
QUESTION 10: Yeah. So check\
that out.\
www.onehealthinitiative.com\
CAPT. TOSATTO: All right and\
we'll link to that\
on the list serve once that\
comes up. Well? QUESTION 11:\
I have a comment to the room\
as opposed to the federal\
employees here at the front.\
As a former social studies\
teacher and a sort of a\
civics geek if you want to \
call it that, how many of\
you in the room know who\
your local representatives\
are in congress right now?\
Okay, how many of you ever\
spoken to him about MRC and\
what the MRC needs and what\
the MRC should be doing? And\
I'm gonna shame the rest of\
you into why aren't you\
doing this also, okay? These\
people are doing a heck of a\
job for us we need to get\
them some grounds well\
support from the bottom I\
think right now and talk to\
your congress person talk to\
representatives. (People\
clapping.) QUESTION 11: Do\
it. Send a letter out. It\
will help you. Thank you,\
Rob. QUESTION 12: Mine is\
more for the regional\
coordinators in the room. As\
a mortician, I don't know if\
there are any other\
morticians in the MRC. We\
are a very useful group of\
people. I know we're not all\
scary. Some of us are but\
not all of us. (People\
laughing) QUESTION 12: I\
encourage you to reach out\
to your local, funeral\
directors associations and\
talk to them about possibly\
doing some kind of a\
recruiting and bringing them\
into your unit because when\
I did the mass fatality\
planning session this\
morning, that was one of the\
things they have talked\
about what was in case of\
mass fatality in a hospital\
setting is being able to\
transport patients and being\
able to make these removals\
and being able just to do a\
lot of things that people\
just uncomfortable with.\
That's where we will be very\
useful. And I encourage a\
lot of the regional\
coordinators here to reach\
out to that community and\
try to bring them into your\
unit. Well thanks. CAPT.\
TOSATTO: Thanks. I think the\
last question is that Dan\
over there. Last question or\
comment? I think you just\
have to talk. PATRICK: Well\
there you go. QUESTION 13:\
Yeah. The federal deployment\
cadre is a really\
interesting thing. I think I\
understand where we are with\
that as a pilot program and\
whether or not we had this I\
would still be an MRC\
volunteer and I think\
Patrick you really helped me\
to get some information that\
will be helpful to\
everybody. If you could do a\
variation you talked about\
maybe doing a webinars or\
some type of thing like\
that. The thing you did with\
the strings it took me 2\
years to get that before I\
saw the strings and I kind of\
understood where you were\
going with that and if all\
of these people at MRCs saw\
some variation I know it\
will be pretty much for the\
deployment cadre but you\
could twist it just a\
little bit and you could\
really fast tract people to\
a better understanding of\
where ESFA 8 fits and what\
they can do because my first\
question was how can I be of\
help with my skills, my\
profession, what I do, where\
do I fit? And I stumbled for\
the first 6 months until I\
found ESF 8 then spend\
another 6 months trying to\
understand it then I saw\
that and it was just, aha!\
So I hope that you can put\
that on film somehow\
disseminate that to people\
for those of you who missed\
it, bug him to get it that\
was great. PATRICK: Thank\
you very much and thank you\
for giving me that input.\
What we'll trying to do is\
make sure we can spread the\
Aha! Moment hopefully for\
everyone else and they will\
look at different venues and\
try to do that. Okay?\
Thanks. CAPT. TOSATTO: Well\
thank you very much. I think\
this has been a tremendous\
session. It's been great\
questions, great feedback,\
great input. I like to see\
the sharing. This is very\
important, you know, one of\
the things that came up in\
the couple of the regional\
breakout sessions was the\
fact that we are approaching\
a 10- year anniversary,\
10-year anniversary for 9/11\
and the remembrance of that\
event but also a 10-year\
anniversary for the Medical\
Reserve Corps which came up\
of those events of 9/11. I\
want all of you to think\
about that and think about\
ways that you can think --\
that you can get the\
information out to your\
communities to remind them\
you know not just of the bad\
things about 9/11. You know\
this is the day of\
remembrance but it is also a\
day of service. And to\
encourage folks to take that\
feelings that they have that\
those feelings that they\
have around 9/11 and channel\
that into the MRC. One of\
the things we're gonna be\
doing for our, you know,\
remembrance of 9/11 to\
celebrate the 10 years of\
the MRC is looking at an MRC\
10-year retrospective of the\
history of MRC. A lot of the\
successes we've had to date,\
some of the challenges we've\
had but using some of those\
stories that you give us\
each and every day and each\
and you know that we put in\
in our monthly newsletter\
and quarterly newsletters,\
we're gonna share those\
highlights of what the MRC\
has done and the impact it\
had over the last year. So\
again, remember that those\
activity reports, unit\
profiles that you do are so\
important to us to get that\
message out about what the\
MRC is doing and what it can\
do. So keep up that great\
work. A couple of reminders\
before you go is this\
afternoon there is the\
integrated round table\
discussion with a number of\
very important and relevant\
topics that MRC can\
participate in. These round\
table discussions are at 3\
o'clock, 3-4:30 and they are\
gonna be at Texas A and B so\
I do encourage you that if\
you're not going to one of\
the joint sessions at that\
time, come by those\
integrated round table. It's\
very much like sitting at\
these tables but again it's\
gonna be a facilitated\
discussion of some very\
important concepts. Also\
remember tomorrow the "Let's\
move yoga". It was great to\
see so many out this morning\
walking or running. Tomorrow\
is gonna be inside so you\
don't have to worry about\
being as cold, but that's\
gonna be at 6:30 in the\
morning in Texas C and D so\
I think it's right around\
here as well. I'm gonna\
close and just say thank\
you. Thank you for attending\
this town hall. Thank you\
for attending the summit but\
most of all thank you for\
what you're doing each and\
everyday to really make the\
MRC what it is. This is such\
a strong and vibrant network\
of MRC volunteers of MRC\
units. You know what you do\
every day strengthens the\
MRC, the entire network. So\
on those days that you're\
getting a little\
discouraged, you're getting\
a little bit "here's another\
thing to do", remember what\
you're doing is so vitally\
important to your community,\
to your state and to the\
nation. Thank you. (People\
clapping.) \
}