Public Health Work And Volunteer Opportunities For Responding To Coronavirus In Lexington

Press release from the Town of Lexington:

April 24, 2020

We have received kind offers from those looking to volunteer and support our Public Health Office during the COVID-19 response.

We soon will have sufficient staff trained to use the Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network to follow up with COVID-positive residents and their contacts; however, other work and volunteer opportunities are available:

Work: Contact tracing, resource coordination.

Volunteer: Medical Reserve Corps

Contract Tracing with Partners in Health

Partners in Health is hiring contract tracers, Resource Coordinators and Case Investigators to reach out to all Massachusetts contacts of COVID-19 patients, counsel them on testing and quarantine, refer them for testing, and connect them to necessary resources throughout their quarantine.

Opportunities available with Partners in Health.

*Note: The Town of Lexington is not recruiting residents to the PIH Contract Tracing Collaborative, nor is it likely that Partners In Health would assign tracers to work in the community of residency, as this could conflict with HIPAA privacy rules.

What is contract tracing; why do we need it for responding to COVID-19?

When an individual tests positive for infectious disease, such as COVID-19, it’s critical to find out where they were, and with whom, during the incubation period, and to communicate to the person’s contacts that they, too, may have been exposed. By making that contact, interviewing the individual, identifying their recent contact with others, and urging the patient’s contacts to quarantine themselves, the infection rate is slowed.

Contact tracing is a fundamental tool of infection control in public health and is an important cornerstone of the work of Partners in Health (PIH), a ground-breaking 30-year old global public health organization based in Boston. PIH is now heading a statewide effort with Governor Baker called the Community Tracing Collaborative to support Massachusetts communities during this public health crisis.

Volunteer with Lexington’s Region of the Medical Reserve Corps

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as other community members without healthcare backgrounds. Lexington is part of Region 4A MRC.

Apply to volunteer by contacting Roberta Ho. Ms. Ho coordinates the MRC application process, including license vetting of clinical volunteers, and CORI/SORI checks for medical and non-medical volunteers.

Most of the MRC activation in Lexington’s region is currently directed towards providing surge staffing to long-term care facilities. Lexington still has a shortage of volunteers willing to serve in a situation where they will be directly exposed, so this is the area of greatest need, but MRC volunteers can also be used for other purposes, as well.

What is the Medical Reserve Corps?

Region 4A MRC was formed to promote public health and safety across the region in three key areas:

1. Public Health Emergencies – events that threaten public health, such as a disease outbreak or toxic chemical release.
2. Mass Casualty Incidents – disasters that cause injury or threats to large numbers of people. These can include a building collapse, fire, storm, flood, or other event that displaces groups of residents that must be moved to emergency shelters.
3. Community Service Activities – opportunities to foster the well-being of local residents; such as health fairs, blood pressure clinics, or training programs.

This press release was produced by the Town of Lexington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.