Everyone entering the offices of the Skagit County Health Department gets stopped before moving beyond the lobby.

A small team of volunteers spent the last week waiting at the top of the stairs to direct people where they needed to go and to assist anyone coming in for the coveted H1N1 vaccine. The volunteers were armed with forms, H1N1 publications and the latest information about who was eligible to get injectable or nasal-spray versions of the vaccines.

This line, not of defense but of information, is the Medical Reserve Corps, a crew of about 100, most of whom have a medical background. The corps’ mission is to be ready to step up in a national emergency, be it an earthquake, flood, terrorist attack or flu pandemic.

“It’s been a life saver,” Health Director Peter Browning said. “We could not be doing what we’re doing right now if we did not have them.”

Anywhere from four to eight volunteers have been at the Health Department every day, giving shots, processing paperwork and directing the people who came to get vaccinated.

Donna Smith, the department’s emergency response coordinator, said the organization is nationally recognized and dates to President George W. Bush’s response to Sept. 11.

The president had called for “volunteerism” across the country for national emergencies such as the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Medical Reserve Corps, which falls under the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, was the result.

The swine flu pandemic gave the Skagit County corps its first chance to help out. A group staffed a phone bank in the spring. Now the volunteers are at the Health Department. They are also preparing to head into the schools with county nurses when more vaccine becomes available.

About 40 percent of the corps volunteers are retired medical workers.

Carol Bergner came to the Health Department Friday to get trained to give vaccinations. Dee Bessner has been administering vaccines for three weeks.

“I had time to do things, and my husband passed away,” Bessner said. “I just found that I had time on my hands, and I did not want to just sit and do nothing.”

The volunteers must answer to state and federal emergency management officials and be certified so the organization knows who is trained in what fields.

The background work and certification helps answer the age-old question, “Is there a doctor in the house?” With the Medical Reserve Corps, that type of medical response is available, and volunteers have the paperwork to prove it.

They can be called in once a local or national emergency has been declared and local hospital or health department staff are overloaded. Smith said a department or hospital must be using all of its staff at capacity before bringing in the Medical Reserve Corps.

That’s exactly what happened for the last three weeks at the Health Department. Staff nurses worked 10- to 12-hour days for weeks at a time. Few had time to handle their more routine desk work, let alone the piles of paperwork that came with each H1N1 vaccination.

Smith has more volunteers at the Health Department processing paperwork and meeting people at the door than actually giving vaccinations.

“We couldn’t have managed last week without the Medical Reserve Corps,” Browning said.

Smith hopes the high visibility of the volunteers in recent weeks will attract even more. She said she wants 1,000 signed up to help in a county that has a population of 119,000. She would like most of them to be non-medical people. Right now most are doctors, nurses and veterinarians.

“I actually need about four non-medical (volunteers) for every one medical,” Smith said.

She is offering training for new volunteers Nov. 13 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The location is to be determined. The group will be oriented on the organizational structure of the Medical Reserve Corps and get basic training on emergency response organizations.

For more information on the corps and the upcoming training, call 360-419-7645 or e-mail .

Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or .