Cal State joins County Sheriff’s Department

Highland Community News 1/4/07

Two nursing department faculty members and 15 nursing students at Cal State San Bernardino joined the Medical Reserve Corps of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department at a ceremony Dec. 12.

The students and teachers are volunteers who will be trained to respond to large-scale disasters and medical emergencies such as earthquakes, fires, toxic spills and outbreaks of disease.

Anna Wilson, a lecturer in the university's nursing program, said the effort grew out of the department's observation of what happened after Hurricane Katrina.

“We looked at the human disaster that took place in that city and thought, there should be a way for nursing professionals to be ready to bring their skills to help in such an event here,” Wilson said.

She made contact with the San Bernardino County Medical Society, which was interested in sponsoring such a group.

Michele Brown of the society told Wilson about the national MRC program, which was founded in July 2002. It grew out of President George W. Bush's call for community volunteer efforts in his 2002 State of the Union address, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, D.C.

Volunteers will meet monthly for training in areas like disaster medical operations, the structure of the National Incident Management System, and how to deal with terror attacks that would cause large medical emergencies.

In addition to Wilson, nursing assistant professor Susan McGee-Stehsel joined the corps. The 15 current nursing students are:

Tara Tokijkla of Crestline, Jenna Chiatovich of Fontana, Stephanie Lightner of Hesperia, Theresa Longo of Highland, Jennifer Spellman and Hunter Newman, both of Lake Arrowhead, Sherae Van Hoosen of Moreno Valley, Robin Freeman of Phelan, Annamarie Sims of Rancho Cucamonga, Sha Lanae of Riverside, Dyana Mejia, Jennifer Miller and Suong Thai all of San Bernardino, Sarah Van Tine of Upland and Syon Moran of Victorville.

Freeman, who will graduate from Cal State San Bernardino in June, said she wanted to join the corps as soon as she learned about it. “I like giving back to the community and volunteer work like this is what I want to do,” Freeman said. “I want to make a difference.”

Cpl. Bryan Lane of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department will serve as liaison for the corps. He said that in the event of an emergency, the department will deploy the volunteers where they're most needed.