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Dr. David Hopson |
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October 30, 2006 I am pleased to report much progress on the part of Gateway and our seven towns in planning and preparing for a potential influenza pandemic. At a well attended meeting last week town, school, and state officials shared information, the existing status of emergency plans, and most importantly, a commitment to moving forward with a district-wide planning process. Representatives attended this meeting from six towns, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Huntington Health Center, Westfield Emergency Planning, and the Massachusetts State Police. Town representatives included members of Boards of Health, Select Boards, Police Departments, Fire Departments, and local emergency planning coordinators. ‘Volunteer’ town officials are among the busiest people living or working in the Gateway hilltowns and we appreciate them giving up their scarce free time in order to participate. While planning for a pandemic influenza outbreak is the current topic of interest, it was agreed by the participants that pandemic planning will involve processes and agreements that would be important in many other types of situations. These could include natural disasters (weather related incidents such as hurricanes, micro-bursts, snow or ice storms), other accidental emergencies (dams breaking, chemical spills, railway accidents), or other incidents that could potentially occur. Essential areas of planning are communications, emergency responses, and the utilization of resources. The planning of communications between the various towns, state agencies and schools—for before, during, and after an incident—is important for a number of reasons including keeping everyone aware of potential problems, coordinating responses to an incident, and avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts. In planning for an influenza outbreak for example, the schools have the ability to spot trends in absenteeism that could be an early indicator for the towns. Coordinating emergency responses is not new to our towns—mutual aide agreements have been in place for a long time between individual towns. Moving to a district-based response ensures that there will be predetermined responses for major incidences that may reduce the impact by using a much broader base of volunteers and agencies. It became evident that the usual emergency services, including the state police and local hospitals, may be so overwhelmed in a wide-spread flu outbreak that local towns may essentially be left to fend for themselves. We identified many potential spaces that might be used in a crisis: town halls, senior centers, firehouses, and schools. However, it quickly became evident that without some prior agreements between the towns, local agencies and the schools, it could take time to staff, supply and open these resources to meet local needs. The group will review some examples of agreements at the next meeting on November 30th, 7 PM in the Gateway Cafeteria. We will also develop a timeline for actions in order to become better prepared to meet the potential needs of our communities. I look forward to continuing to work with such a dedicated group of individuals representing the many facets of our communities. ### |
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