Public Health and Mass Shelters

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Public Health and Mass Shelters

• MA Region 4A Medical Reserve Corps Executive
  Committee and the Town of Concord

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2008 Ice Storm

• Friday, December 12, 2008
• Power outages for up to a million residents and
  businesses in five Massachusetts counties
  (Worcester, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and
  Berkshire).
• Governor Deval Patrick declared a State of
  Emergency, which continued until Monday, December
  29th.

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2008 Ice Storm Impact Area
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Ice Storm Deployment

• Region 4A provided
• 167 volunteers
• 305 total shelter shifts
• 111 were covered by medical personnel
• Command and Control for
• deployment of 41 non-4A
• MRC Volunteers

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Ice Storm Deployment Response Partners

• American Red Cross
• Upper Merrimac Valley Medical Reserve Corps
• Taunton Medical Reserve Corps
• Greater New Bedford Medical Reserve Corps
• MA Region 2 MRC
• MA Region 4B MRC
• Boston MRC
• Brookline MRC
• Our Fathers House Nursing Home
• UMass Memorial Medical Center
• Hopkinton Fire and Police Department
• Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH)
• Department of Mental Health (DMH)
• Riverside Trauma Center
• Public Health Departments of affected communities

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Ice Storm DeploymentSummary

• All shelters and all volunteers met their mission
  to provide a safe space with food and medical
  care as needed.
• This event provided Region 4A as well as other
  state and local emergency teams an opportunity to
  exercise our plans for a mass care event.
• It also provided an opportunity for us to
  identify communications, delivery and deployment
  methods that would strengthen future responses.

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
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The Concord Approach

• MRC organized as a unit of CERT under Concord
  Emergency Management Agency
• Mass Sheltering/Care is Primary Focus
• Shelter Drill every 2 years
• Shelter-at-Home Community Education Program
• Integrated Approach

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Concord Board of Selectmen
Town Manager
Concord Emergency Management Agency
Town Staff
Local Emergency Planning Committee
ConcordCERT
Concord Medical Reserve Corps
Shelter Management Team
Concord Amateur Radio Emergency Team
Citizens Emer. Radio Network
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CARET LINK
Concord EOC
NOT YET ESTABLISHED
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Where Do I (we) Start?

• Does your community have a shelter plan? CERT?
  Civil Defense?
• Have you seen copies of the Red Cross Shelter
  Surveys?
• Open the dialogue
• What can you
• do to help?

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First Big Question.

• Who are your customers?
• Community demographics
• Language
• Income
• Housing status
• Age
• Housing Diversity
• LTC, Assisted Living, Group Homes
• Apartments/Condos
• Affordable housing
• Non-Residents
• Office workers
• Hotels
• MBTA/Commuter Rail
• Major highways (evacuation routes)

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Hierarchy of Emergency Housing

• I will stay in my house. I am comfortable here.
  I have supplies (food, water, electricity, etc)
• I will go stay with my friends, neighbors, or
  relatives at their house.
• I will rent a hotel room, apartment, condo
• I will go to a community shelter

The individuals status is DYNAMIC, there can
be movement between these stages, dependent on
conditions, supplies, environment, finances,
health status, etc.
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Shelters are not just for Housing

• Just because someone stays in their home doesnt
  mean they dont need.
• Food
• Water
• Flush toilets
• Showers
• Warming/Cooling
• Human Contact

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What if you have to do this in your community?
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• How will you set up the shelters and provide all
  volunteers to provide safe space with food and
  medical care as needed to the residents of your
  community?
• How will you exercise your plans for a mass care
  event?
• How do you identify communications, delivery and
  deployment methods that would strengthen future
  responses?

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Questions to Answer When You Get Home

• What is your primary shelter facility? Secondary?
  Tertiary? Any of them in the Flood Plain?
• Facility capacities? Do they have generators?
  What is powered by the generator? Natural gas or
  diesel?
• Who has the keys to get in at 3am?
• Do you have cots/blankets and other shelter
  basics? Where is it stored? Who has the keys?
• Do you have the equipment for a basic first aid
  clinic to be setup in the shelter?
• Is there space in the building or nearby for
  animal sheltering?
• What about staffing? MRC? CERT? Amateur Radio?
  Police? EMTs? Has anyone been through Shelter
  Manager Training?
• How many extension cords and power strips do you
  have? Outlets in the main dormitory area?
• Does the shelter have a large kitchen for mass
  feeding? A separate dining area that can
  accommodate the entire resident population? Where
  would food come from if the shelter had to be
  open for 5 days?
• Handicap Accessibility of the facilities?
• Communications? Are there phones? Will HAM
  radio work inside the shelter to reach your EOC?
  What about UHF Police/Fire Radios?

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Making your Plans

• The questions on the previous slide are only the
  beginning.
• As you work with your community, more questions
  and answers will follow.
• Please review the shelter surveys and plans with
  your Emergency Director, and ask how you can
  help.
• The 4A MRC Website will soon have a section with
  mass sheltering resources, including plans from
  communities in 4A who are willing to share.

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Remember..You have already been planning for a
Mass Care Event (Emergency Dispensing Sites). In
this case you are dispensing housing, food,
medical care, etc.instead of Cipro or Vaccine
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Discussion

• What have you already done in your community?
• Will your plan work?
• How can you improve it?

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MA Region 4A MRC

• Thank you for your time
• MA Region 4A Medical Reserve Corps Executive
  Committee
• and
• The Town of Concord