The first training session for participants in the Greater Fall River Medical Reserve Corps (GFRMRC) was held on April 9, 2007, at the Southern New England School of Law in Dartmouth. The training was presented by Dawn Sibor of the Brookline Health Department and Medical Reserve Corps and Alison Minkoff of the Cambridge Health Alliance and the Region 4B Medical Reserve Corps. The GFRMRC will coordinate the skills of practicing and retired physicians, nurses and other health professionals, as well as other citizens interested in health issues, who want to volunteer to address their community's ongoing public health needs, to help their community during large-scale emergency situations, and to receive some valuable training and experience while they serve. For further information, call 508-324-2520.
 

(Top row, left) The Southeastern Massachusetts School of Law was the setting for the training that brought together representatives of public health offices throughout Bristol County. (Top row, right) Dawn Sibor of the Brookline Health Department welcomes the training participants. (Bottom row, right) Alison Minkoff of the Cambridge Health Alliance and the Region 4B Medical Reserve Corps describes the history of public health in Massachusetts that began Paul Revere. Boston was the nation’s first health department and traces its roots back to 1799, when Paul Revere was named Boston’s first health officer. Back then, the board of health was formed to fight a potential outbreak of cholera. Two hundred years later, that tradition of prevention continues through the Boston Public Health Commission and efforts like the Medical Reserve Corps.