Preparing to deal with a major emergency

Pandemic. Bioterrorism. Natural disaster. No one likes to imagine the worst, but in Randolph, Board of Health officials are doing just that as they prepare for the possibility of a public health crisis. In doing so, they put themselves on the forefront of local efforts to deal with such crises.

The board recently created an Infectious Disease Committee to plan for emergency medical care and infectious disease control in town. Officials are seeking residents to serve on the town's newly created Medical Reserve Corps, which would be critical in caring for large numbers of people during a public health emergency. And a proposed warrant for the annual Town Meeting seeks to authorize the board to enter into a mutual aid agreement with one or more other boards of health in the area should the need occur, just as fire and police departments sometimes do.

The Bristol County Public Health Coalition and the Plymouth County Public Health Coalition, each with representatives from 24 towns, have drafted a mutual aid agreement that members are encouraged to propose for Town Meeting in the spring.

''A public health emergency is always a potential," said John McVeigh, Randolph's director of public health. ''A pandemic has happened before, and, as most experts will say, it will happen again. Being prepared is the name of the game."

In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps, which is designed to promote and organize volunteerism and service in the country. The Medical Reserve Corps, which is headquartered in the Office of the US Surgeon General, is part of that initiative.

Nationwide, state and town officials have been asked to establish their own medical reserve corps made up of teams of volunteer medical and public health professionals. So far, there are 361 federally registered medical reserve corps in the country.

In Massachusetts, there are 11, but so far none of those are in the area south of Boston. Randolph hopes to be the first.

Each town, with technical help from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, has been directed to create a plan to address the issue of infectious diseases.

In Randolph, the Infectious Disease Committee has already identified three sites as locations where medical care and vaccinations would be given during a health crisis -- the high school, the senior center, and Temple Beth Am. Each site would need 100 volunteers. ''We're looking for 300 people," said McVeigh. ''We're slowly but surely trying to get the word out."

So far there are about 20 volunteers. John-Leander Po, who has lived in Randolph for two years, is one of them. Po is finishing his medical residency and is in a fellowship program at Boston Medical Center focusing on infectious diseases. The medical corps perfectly fits Po's interests and appeals to his civic pride, he said.

''I love Randolph. I should do something for the community," Po said.

Sandy Coleman can be reached at sbcoleman@globe.com.