The Mason County LEPC Meeting was held at
Lisa Gangwer presented the minutes from the September meeting and they were reviewed and accepted. Motion was made by John Bumgarner and seconded by RC Faulk.
Chris Long sent the treasurer’s report; it was reviewed and accepted. Motion was made by Bill Stricklen and seconded by Mikki Young.
Diana Riddle commented about the Pandemic Planning Meeting last month. People from different areas of law enforcement were invited to this meeting to talk about their roll if a pandemic began and for them to see if they were as prepared as they could be. It was a very good meeting and the biggest concern was how to keep staff members at work if this type of incident were to happen. Also, the Health Department is going to give law enforcement packets of masks, gloves and gowns so they will have them in case they are needed. Future meetings are going to be held on the first Tuesday of each month at 1:00 pm at the 911 Center. This day and time frame may be easier for people to attend the meeting. The next meeting will be January 8th, due to the first Tuesday being New Years Day, and the Board of Education will be the preparedness topic.
Diana said that the Health Department received Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred dollars ($13,500). They will be purchasing oxygen holders and PPE for the alternate care sites in addition to body bags that will be needed if a pandemic happens. Rex Troy of PVH said the hospital will be receiving part of the grant also.
Diana said that they have “Treating Seasonal or Pandemic Flu at Home” brochures that need handed out and distributed. If you want some brochures to hand out to people, please let her know.
She also stated that if you would like to be on the Public Health Volunteer Mail List you might want to sign up if you are not already on the list.
In February, we will start giving First Aid/CPR classes to public health volunteers. We also have dental health care money for women and children that need preventative dental care and we have some flu shots left if anybody needs one.
Diana said that during an incident on Route 35, emergency services were having some difficulties with communication because the driver did not speak English. She said that she has a list of interpreters at the Health Department that she can give to Chuck for the 911 Center in case they run into any problems like that again. Chuck said that he would really like that list.
Jeff Holstein, a volunteer with the Health Department,
talked about Amateur Radio. There are
approximately sixty-one Amateur Radio Operators in
Bud Carter is an Amateur Radio Operator and he talked about
the County Volunteer Amateur Radio Club.
Since September 11, Katrina and the loss of the Space Shuttle, people
have realized that amateur radio is a means for communication during an
emergency. Cell phone and landlines get
overcome with calls and the radios are what help with emergency communication
during these times.
911 and SERC
RC Faulk said that since the new 911 building went into service, there have been over 59,000 telephone events. Twenty percent (20%) of which were people who physically dialed 911.
RC said that he will start publishing LEPC meeting minutes on the new LEPC website and he would like to get a computer version from Mike Thompson so he can put the new Shelter-in-Place DVD on the website also. Diana and Rex suggested to RC that he add a link for the Health Department website and also a link to the State Pandemic website too.
RC updated the WARN system list for the Court House and he gave it to Nick Bostick so he could update the Mason County WARN System list.
He asked Jeff from J&H Consulting (who is digitizing and creating Quick Links for the Emergency Response Plan) if next year when the new edition of the orange placard book comes out if he could add it to the Quick Links and Jeff said that he was already planning to do that.
RC said that the Mason Fire Department has asked us to find
some place else to keep our emergency generator because they no longer have
space for it. It needs to be inside and
accessible twenty-four hours a day for all countywide emergencies. John Bumgarner suggested the
RC said that after the first of the year, the EOC will be wired with brand new telephones that will just need to be plugged in for use if the EOC is activated.
Chuck said that addressing conversion is in progress right
now and that
HMEP Grant (2006)
Kevin Dennis stated that the new Shelter-in-Place DVDs will
need to be distributed. We also need to
create Shelter in Place kits for the schools and whoever else needs one. Letters need to go out to the schools with
the DVDs and the kits and we want to offer any help if they need it teaching
about Sheltering-in Place. We will try
to get donations from industries and businesses to help with the kits. The Task Force for this will be Lisa Gangwer,
Diana Riddle pointed out that the four school nurses could help with presenting the DVDs and training to the schools also.
Kevin Dennis said that AEP Mountaineer Plant in
Debbie said she will put on the agenda for the next OKSRC meeting to talk about having a drill with the LEPC. The drill needs to take place before September 1, 2008.
Jeff from JH Consulting talked about digitizing Mason County Emergency Response Plan as our 2007 HMEP Grant Project. He also talked about how he keeps the EOP up to date. Chuck said that if anybody needs a grant writer or help with any project such as this one that Jeff does a wonderful job and that he would definitely recommend him.
Next meeting will be March 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm at the 911 Center. Debbie Powell with M&G Polymers volunteered to provide lunch.
Lisa Gangwer, Secretary
Mason