The San Mateo County Coastside is a beautiful residential and recreational community but because of its location along the Pacific Ocean, it is vulnerable to tsunamis as well as earthquakes from the nearby San Andreas fault. In a major earthquake, the two access roads (Routes 1 and 92) could be blocked, thus cutting off vehicular traffic and emergency services from the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, major damage on the San Francisco Peninsula could damage hospitals and consume a majority of the emergency services for a protracted period of time. Thus, the Coastside may need to provide its own disaster relief supplies and support.

In the fall of 2004, Dr. J. Kent Garman, realized the need for a medical and public health support team to help provide for emergency and disaster relief on the San Mateo Coast. He began to do the research, met with government officials, sought out funding, and established the ground work for the San Mateo County Coastside Medical Reserve Corps unit. It was through his persistant efforts that this unit was established and was approved by the Federal government in September, 2005. The SMC MRC is sponsored by the City of Half Moon Bay and recognized by the County and State Emergency Medical Services Agencies.

Our "Housing Agency" is the San Mateo County Health Department and our coordinator, Kevin Rose, of the Emergency Medical Service Agency has been invaluable with his guidance and assistance.

We have had a close working relationship with the Half Moon Bay Police Department and have had tremendous support from Chief Don O'Keefe and his assistant and coordinator, Elizabeth Martinez Yano.

We are currently recruiting active and retired health care volunteers who hold an active or retired California license or certificate appropriate to their profession. We are accepting applications from physicians, nurses, EMTs, physician assistants, paramedics, pharmacists, mental health workers, dentists, veterinarians, social workers, physical therapists, chaplains, and other medical support volunteers who live or work on the San Mateo Coast.

You may get more information about the Medical Reserve Corps at the National MRC website, www.medicalreservecorps.gov. We encourage all health care providers and members of the local community that have a strong interest in health care issues to join and help the San Mateo Coastside MRC provide health and emergency preparedness education as well as the manpower that will be needed in the event of an emergency or disaster. 

Plaque Awarded on September, 2008