Victor S. Dorodny has approached Malibu’s emergency preparedness coordinator about the idea. The proposal could eventually go before the City Council.
By Andrisa Anderson/Special to The Malibu Times
A proposal for a Malibu Medical Reserve Corps that would serve as a source of extra support for the city during an emergency or disaster period is in the preliminary stages of discussion. Malibu resident Victor S. Dorodny is proposing the idea, in which physicians and other medical workers may be recruited to assist in this secondary response team.
The MMRC would supplement other responder, such as firemen and the Sheriff’s Department in the time of an emergency. However, the discussion of Dorodny’s plan and whether there is a need for its implementation is only in the beginning stages with Brad Davis, Malibu’s emergency preparedness coordinator. Davis said he has only spoken with Dorodny on the issue one time. If talks progress, other city administrators would then be asked to assist in creating a proposal for the City Council, which would need to approve the creation of the corps. Although Dorodney told the Malibu Surfside News last week that he already had the support of most of the City Council, the councilmembers interviewed for this article said they knew little about the proposal, and not enough to have formed an opinion.
Dorodny, a retired clinical practitioner and former chief scientist of the Naturopathic Evidence-Based Wellness Institute in Los Angeles, would like the City Council and Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Capt. Tom Martin to help in the process of organizing the reserve corps. In March, Dorodny proposed creating a Malibu City health officer position for the city. He also volunteered to fill the position, saying the city needs to give more administrative support to recruit private funding for the MMRC and perhaps obtain a federal grant.
Dorodny is proposing the MMRC work closely with the Sheriff’s and Fire departments for emergency response. He notes the lack of communication that took place on Sept. 11 between firemen and police in New York City and wants to prevent that in a local emergency.
“Malibu joint command and control would be established with the other emergency response departments,” Dorodny said. “Clean-cut and up-to-date communications would need to happen.”
Dorodny said he is familiar with providing on-the-spot aid to those in need. He received a special commendation from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for providing medical help under fire in Chechnya.
“My experience shows we can only count on immediate neighbors [in an emergency],” said Dorodny, a native of Odessa, Ukraine.
Realizing that Malibu may be more susceptible to mudslides and earthquakes than a terrorist attack, Dorodny is attempting to make the MMRC similar to organizations elsewhere in California.
Though similar programs exist for the state of California, the Malibu Medical Reserve Corps would not be like the Community/Law Emergency Response Team Program established in 2000, which could conceivably reach a large number of Los Angeles County residents, Dorodny said. CERT is set up to benefit residents in the large county for crime prevention and disaster readiness. Volunteers are also supposed to aid in preventing terrorism.
Dorodny’s ideas include storing medical equipment such as defibrillators and nonperishable food in “hubs,” the houses and garages of volunteers. He said he also wants office space to run the reserve out of and remain in contact with emergency medical providers and future volunteers.