Some people were not able to attend the SMC MRC meeting on Saturday, February 28th, so this newsletter will summarize the meeting. We had 35 members attend the meeting.
NEW MEMBERS:(since our November meeting)
Patty Lacey, RN
Bill Feaster, MD
Sandra Feaster, RN
Dagmar Wachter – Senior Community Manager – Ocean Colony Assn.
Susan Schabinger – Ocean Colony Homeowner’s Assn.
Torrey Rothstein, DDS
Lisa Handa – dental hygienist
Elizabeth (Beth) Squiers, MD
We currently have 52 members.
STEERING COMMITTEE: The members are:
Laurie Agrillo, RN
Rebecca Dennison, RN
Marilyn Dittes, RN
Jim Howie
Jane Kingston, MFT
Shirley Madden, MFT
Elizabeth Martinez Yano – Coordinator, HMB Police Dept.
Kevin Rose – San Mateo County Emergency Medical Services Agency
POLICIES & PROCEDURES:A Policies & Procedures manual will be established and placed on the website. Some policies that will be specific for the SMC MRC will include:
All SMC MRC members will be encouraged to complete CERT training within 1 year of membership. This may become a requirement.
All members will be required to attend at least 1 meeting a year.
Members that move away or become inactive will return their MRC vests and DSW ID cards to the HMB Police Department.
All members will be required to sign a Code of Conduct.
CODE OF CONDUCT: A Code of Conduct policy will be established and signed by all MRC members in the West Coast region (Region IX). Marilyn Dittes, RN & Rebecca Dennison, RN reviewed the items in the SMC MRC Code of Conduct that was established by the steering committee. All members present at the meeting signed the COC document, which will be placed in their file.
SMC ALERT & “RAPID NOTIFY”: Chief Don O’Keefe of the HMB Police Dept. encouraged all MRC members to sign up for SMC Alerts at www.smcalert.info. He also discussed the new “Rapid Notify” alert system that will be used for the first time for the Silver Dragon III disaster drill.
APPLICATIONS: Some applications are still lacking signatures, copies of professional licenses, certificates of completion of the ICS courses, fingerprinting, etc. DSW ID cards cannot be issued until the applications are complete. A few members have also not registered on the Disaster Healthcare Volunteers of California website.
CERT TRAINING: CERT training is now recommended for all MRC members. Battalion chief, David Cosgrave of the HMB Fire Department is currently conducting a CERT class for 24 of our SMC MRC members. After the class, 35 of our 52 members will be CERT-trained. Those that still need training can signup online for future CERT classes at the fire departments in HMB, Daly City, Foster City, Redwood City, or Woodside.
SILVER DRAGON III: The exercise will be on Wednesday, March 11th from 9:00 AM – noon and will simulate the response to a bio-terrorism attack. It will be a “Push” operation in which CERT-trained and MRC volunteers will go door-to-door to distribute brochures, instead of antibiotics. Over 10,000 homes will be covered in San Mateo County and we will distribute to 535 homes in Ocean Colony and 353 homes in the Canada Cove Mobile Home Park. A briefing and continental breakfast will be provided at the Incident Command Post (ICP) at the Ocean Colony Club meeting room at 9 AM. A debriefing and lunch will be provided at noon. A San Mateo County Health Department observer and HMB Police Department patrol car will be on site. We have had a great response and will have 5 CERT-trained people working at the mobile home park and 14 SMC MRC members in the Ocean Colony community.
BAY AREA POD EXERCISE: This will be a large-scale “Pull” operation in which the Bay Area MRC units will use the Oakland Coliseum as a “Point of Distribution” (POD) site for the distribution of antibiotics (brochures). The drill will be from 9:00-4:00 on Thursday, March 19th. An orientation meeting is required and several of our MRC members will participate. Those interested in participating should contact Michael Klass, ASAP, as we will be car-pooling to Oakland.
SAN MATEO COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AGENCY (EMSA) UPDATE: Kevin Rose gave an update on some disaster drills that are being considered for later this year. There is also a possibility that funds may be available to purchase a tent for future SMC MRC activities.
FUTURE EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS: We are considering future presentations on earthquakes, tsunamis, hazardous materials, psychological first aid, CPR, first aid, etc. We have contacted the American Red Cross about conducting a CPR and basic first aid class for our members. The usual cost is $75 per person but we can get a $30 discount by affiliating with a 501(C)(3) charitable organization. The SMC MRC would be willing to pay ½ of the cost. Another alternative is the American Heart Association course but these classes are contracted out to other agencies and the cost is higher. A 3rd alternative is to take advantage of the resources of our own members. Andy Zanoff is a SMC MRC member and a paramedic with the SF Fire Dept. He does the CPR training for them and could provide the manikins and training for us. We could also investigate other sources for the first aid training. Please contact me if you have suggestions or know of other resources.
EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION: CALIFORNIA - DISASTER MEDICAL ASSIST TEAM (DMAT): Our guest speaker was David Lipin who is the Regional Commander for the California Disaster Medical Assist Team (DMAT). He gave an excellent presentation with nice photographs of DMAT field hospitals. Lots of information can be obtained at their website at dmatca6.org. Some comparisons of the MRC vs DMAT….
MRC
DMAT
Affiliated with the Surgeon General’s Office and USPHS
Affiliated with the National Disaster Medical system (NDMS) under HHS
Local organization focused on municipality, city, county, or region
Federal organization focusing on national disasters
Short commitment to response
Longer commitment to response
Provides manpower to support DMAT, American Red Cross, & other medical facilities and shelters. Does not supply medical equipment.
Provides manpower and medical supplies; Provides 72-hour self-sustaining medical facility
Volunteers are from all sectors of health care
Volunteers are primarily medical
Provides triage and primary care
Provides advanced medical care
Provides disaster response as well as public health education, first aid stations, etc.
Only provides disaster response
No pay to volunteers for service time, travel, housing
Volunteers are paid when on active duty. Travel and housing is covered.
HMB MAYOR JOHN MULLER: The City of Half Moon Bay sponsors the SMC MRC and the City Council members are very supportive of health care and disaster preparedness on the Coast. Mayor John Muller attended the meeting and thanked everyone for volunteering and participating in the SMC MRC organization.
MERCHANDISE: The members that had completed their applications were issued lanyards (for their DSW ID tags), SMC logo caps, MRC back packs (Go-Packs), and SMC MRC embroidered polo shirts. The caps and either the shirts or vests are to be worn for all disaster drills or official events. There is also a list of first aid supplies and emergency items that can be incorporated in the Go-Packs. The list was sent to all that attended and can also be found on the SMCMRC.ORG website.
OTHER ITEMS:
PHOTOS: Photos of various MRC activities will be posted on the website.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS:In the event that all communications are inoperable, we will rely on amateur radio operators. We have several amateur radio operators in our group (Dan Bernstein and Shirley Madden’s husband) but we will also discuss options with Dennis Paull of the HMB ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) group.
DISASTER MEETING SITE: In the event that a disaster occurs and all means of communications are disrupted, the SMC MRC will meet in front of the HMB Police Station. This location may change as the current Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is at the HMB Fire Station. In addition, there is some discussion about a common meeting place for all of the non-profit organizations on the Coast.
FUTURE DRILLS & FIELD EXERCISES: These would be joint activities with the California-DMAT team. I will email more information when it is available.
May 2: CAL-MAT team training in Santa Clara; 0900 - 1500 hrs. This is an all-day event covering a variety of training topics. Free! Also, BRN/CEU/CMEs offered.
June 13 & 14: California-DMAT disaster field exercise (FTX) at Camp Parks (Pleasanton); Exercise will consist of setting up portions of a field hospital and doing some training. Contra Costa MRC will be there, as will CAL-MAT.
NEXT SMC MRC MEETING: The next meeting will be in June or July.
