The Tuesday August 11, 2020 meeting was held at Palmera Inn & Suites. A HYBRID meeting, there were 13 plus speaker in attendance at the Inn and 8 members on Zoom.
The meeting was called to order by President Lynn King at 8:06
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag
Announcements:
Still on hold with USCB. We will continue to meet at Palmera Inn & Suites for the time being
There will be NO MEETING next week - August 18. The following week, August 25 we will meet and the District Governor Pauline Levesque will be visiting us via Zoom. Please plan on attending on August 25 to hear the District Governor's message.
The website has been updated with speakers through September. We have some interesting programs coming up that you won't want to miss.
Happy $$ returns - We had great participation from both those attending the meeting in person and members on Zoom. Monies raised by Happy $$ benefits CART.
Speaker:
Suzi Oliver introduced our speaker Tom Dunn. Tom is Emergency Management Coordinator of the Town of Hilton Head Island. He covered two aspects of the town's current challenges: the 2020 Hurricane Season and COVID-19.
Hurricane Season - he gave the statistics from last year.
Named storms forcast - 14, actual 18
Major storms forcast - 2, actual 3.
He uses forcasts from the National Hurricane center as well as from Colorado State which he feels is more accurate. This years predictions have already been increased and anticipation is that it will be an active year.
The categories of hurricanes which all are familiar with only apply to wind and does not cover potential water involvement. Tom shared a storm surge graphic.
The EOC hiarchy structure puts the town of HH EOC at the bottom of the chain under State EOC and Beaufort County EOC.
COVID-19
Primary EOC under renovation, held virtual meetings, opened alternate EOC on March 17, Closed alternate EOC on May 11, Recovery plan activate on May 4, Recovery Action Plan August 2, Dispatch Occupying EOC until 8/11. EOC is back and fully functional.
The four areas of EOC are: Operation, planning, logistics, and finance
The plans section: for hurricanes, have a daily plan - EVERY DAY they plan for the next day. For COVID-19 plan weekly
The Logistics section - already have a lot in place because of previous hurricane experience. For COVID-19, 5 - 6 people spent every day to try to find the masks, gowns, gloves, etc. that were anticipated to be needed.
Safety in the fire station:
Screening process and temp checks; Screen, temp checks, boot covers, and masks for contrators; no visitors; no boots in station; removed personal laundry; wear masks in the station
Safety on calls:
response changes; develop PPE use guidance; negative pressure for ambulance (use when nebulizer in use); Guides and videos of PPE and new equipment use; shower trailer at the hospital; maintaining PPE levels;
Support at community testing:
There were five events that were supported which took place at HH middle school, Lady's Island, and Bluffton. Events were logistically heavy.
You can watch EOC meetings on You tube
He also talked about the app - Pulse Point Learn CPR and get the app
EOC has gotten several designations: Storm Ready; Tsunami Ready; and Hurricane Strong
Members had many good questions for Tom
Time it takes to get COVID test result back - varies from 48 hours to 4 days depending on the surge of testing
How are results given - negative - text, postive - phone call
Hurricane activity is cyclical.
Thank you Tom Dunn for an informative and timely presentation
Next meeting - August 25, District 7770 Governor Pauline Levesque visit