Our Program

The MTMRC was started in 2003 and is housed within the National Center for Emergency Preparedness (NCEP/VUMC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The NCEP/VUMC was developed by the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and serves to help communities better prepare for disasters through education of health professionals and other community volunteers. The goal of the MTMRC is to function within the framework of the NCEP/VUMC to assist the community with various innovative programs. The MTMRC is currently working closely with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, Metropolitan Nashville Health Department, and other community agencies in developing programs for increasing community surge capacity and to provide supplemental staffing as needed. It also is our goal to use the resources of the NCEP/VUMC and MTMRC to provide disaster preparedness education for health care providers in our region and support public health initiatives.

Key MTMRC personnel:

Stephen Guillot, Jr.is the Director of the National Center for Emergency Preparedness at Vanderbilt. Previously, he was the Director of the National Center for Bio-Medical Research and Training at Louisiana State University and he has extensive experience in emergency management and disaster preparedness training.

Elizabeth Weiner, PhD, RN, BC, FAAN is Senior Associate Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and Professor of Informatics in the School of Nursing. She is also the Associate Director of the International Nursing Coalition for Mass Casualty Education. Dr. Weiner is an internationally recognized expert in educational informatics and is the co-investigator on the MTMRC grant.

Advisory Board:
The MTMRC has an Advisory Board consisting of members of local hospitals, professional schools, community associations and private industry. The Advisory Board meets on a regular basis to discuss the direction and progress of the Middle Tennessee MRC.