Medical Reserve Corps Pharmacy Volunteers Provide Community Response to COVID-19

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Hunter Rondeau, an ACCP student member from Wichita, Kansas, reports that half of the members of the Sedgwick County (Kansas) Medical Reserve Corps represent the pharmacy profession. The county Medical Reserve Corps is one of more than 970 volunteer units that make up the National Medical Corps. Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and University of Kansas pharmacy students from the Sedgwick County unit have been actively involved in community response to the pandemic. When the county’s call went out for help, the Medical Reserve Corps responded and its members continue to assist in the health department's operations. In showing their adaptability and responsiveness, pharmacy students underwent just-in-time training from health department nursing staff on how to properly conduct nasopharyngeal swabbing. Corps members are now working at an outdoor county testing center that operates four drive-through lanes under a large tent that provides well-needed cover from the unpredictable Kansas spring weather. Pharmacy volunteers assist not only in nasopharyngeal specimen collection, but also participate in exit counseling, PPE donning and doffing, and N95 respirator fit testing.