Wareham's Medical Reserve Corps wants you.

Formed by the federal Centers for Disease Control in an effort to ensure that municipalities are prepared to respond in the event of an emergency or natural disaster, regional Medical Reserve Corps are volunteer-driven groups that spring into action when disaster strikes.

The groups include volunteer physicians and nurses, who can administer medical care, but also volunteers from all backgrounds and industries, to help keep an emergency-care site operating smoothly.

Wareham's unit is part of the Middleborough-area corps, which includes seven towns. The emergency sites are primarily funded by the Center for Disease Control.

"The push is on to get this Medical Reserve Corps going so that we can staff our emergency dispensing sites" in the event of an emergency, said Sandra Landry, a registered nurse. and emergency planner with the Plymouth County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coalition.

Wareham's emergency sites are Wareham Middle School, John W. Decas Elementary, Minot Forest Elementary, the Town Hall lower-level cafeteria, and Ethel E. Hammond Elementary. (Though Hammond Elementary is currently closed, Landry says they're keeping the location on the books in case it reopens in the near future.)

In an emergency, the Centers for Disease Control says 10,000 people should be able to be medicated per facility in 48 hours, Landry said.

"We want to prepare our four facilities," said Landry. "We're trying to get a real big push on training, and trying to get more volunteers."

Volunteers of all abilities are needed to administer medication, to hand out and fill out forms, to provide childcare for staff, to organize and inventory supplies, and more.

"We need just as many non-clinical people, if not more, than clinical people," Landry noted.

Suzanne Burke, who works in Wareham's Board of Health office and serves as Volunteer Coordinator for the Wareham unit, echoed that sentiment, and said she hopes town officials and Wareham's many medical professionals, in addition to citizens-at-large, will get involved.

If you are interested in volunteering for Wareham's unit of the Medical Reserve Corps, contact Burke at 508-291-3100, ext. 3197 or e-mail sburke@wareham.ma.us.