Newsletter Articles
April 07
Newsletter Article
You may have heard some of your neighbors, or have read in the news, of a new
Monroe county program discussing POD.
You may ask; “what is POD and what is POD about?”. POD is the acronym
for Point of Dispensing.
Recruitment of volunteers is a
priority that Gwynne Phillips has taken on with much enthusiasm. Many have
stepped forward to serve in various interests such as greeters, clerical,
medical, and security. In the event of a terrorist or pandemic emergency, the
POD volunteers will assist with needed surge capacity to the regional health
care system, help public health with mass prophylaxis clinics and disease
investigations, and assist other county and community emergency responders as
needed.
David Smith,
Town Councilman
May
Part of the Monroe County Public Health
Department’s responsibilities includes emergency preparedness.
The Emergency Preparedness Team is currently planning and preparing for a
large-scale public health emergency. The
plan includes everyone within our local geographical area.
This Civil Preparedness Initiative is partnering with all local
municipalities to help us prepare for and respond to a future large-scale public
health emergency by developing Points of Dispensing or PODs.
Specifically we are preparing for an emergency, such as a pandemic (like
the bird flu) or a bio-terrorism event. If
a pandemic or bioterrorism event were to occur in the future, we will be
prepared to administer vaccine or dispense medication to the entire population
of Monroe County in 48 hours.
In the Town of Riga, it is the Sector
Planning Team’s responsibility to develop plans for the Town of Riga’s Point
of Dispensing or POD. The plan is
two fold. The first goal is to
develop a strategy by which we can dispense medication, to our 5,437 residents
and any guest from the surrounding area, in a timely manner.
Our second goal is to prepare our citizens with the necessary knowledge
about the POD to ensure that the POD runs smoothly.
Over time, we will be using the Town of Riga Newsletter and other means
of
communication to inform citizens how they will know that it necessary to come to
the POD, where the POD is located, what information you should bring to the POD
and so on.
It is estimated that we will need
approximately 400 volunteers to be trained to man the POD in four twelve hour
shifts. We are looking for residents
willing to give their time and skills during such an emergency.
If you are interested in helping or have questions regarding this
initiative, please call Gwynne Phillips at 293-9436 or e-mail
gmpo56@frontiernet.net.
David Smith
Town of Riga Councilman
Gwynne Phillips
POD Point of Contact Town of Riga Sector Planning Team
June
07 Newsletter Article
As your Riga neighbors continue to prepare by their
involvement with the Civil Preparedness Initiative as a Monroe County community
there are many things we can do as individuals to prepare for taking care of
home and family in the event of a natural disaster, pandemic, or terrorist
attack.
Many of us who experienced the 1991 ice storm remember
the inconvenience of being without electricity for many days.
What can we do to be ready for this type of emergency?
We need to remember a few basics on survival:
On average we need one gallon of water per person per day for sanitation and drinking. A three day supply is recommended.
Remember if you use a portable generator,
to run it outside in a non enclosed area (not in garage or on porch) to keep
from carbon monoxide poisoning.
If there were a quarantine, blizzard, or some other sort of disaster do you have
adequate supplies of food for a few days or a week?
Ready to eat foods that require no
cooking would be best; peanut butter, crackers, cereals, granola and canned
food.
Extra cash could be important to have
available. A flashlight, extra batteries, and battery operated radio are
suggested. A wrench or tools to shut off utilities.
If a disaster were to occur remember to check on
elderly neighbors, shut ins, those who have spouses who may be away on business
or in the military. Often when
adversity strikes there is much opportunity to do well by being a good neighbor.
Many community relationships are strengthened as we help one another get through
the difficult times.
A family plan for communication and reuniting is important to think about and plan. Many additional useful tips are available at www.ready.gov
Submitted by Dave Smith
Councilman
Supervisor trainings have taken place on our side of
the county in Hilton and North Chili in the month.
Many of your community members attended the trainings and took part in
collaborating taking place to share resources and work together as neighboring
towns toward seeing our community cared for in the event of a natural or
unnatural disaster. Discussed were the many types of public health emergencies
that could require activation of POD (point of dispensing) in our region and
town. A POD is a site where
medications or vaccines intended to prevent disease may be given to a large
number of people in a very short amount of time.
Whether Bio Terrorism, Ice storm, Communicable disease, the function of
this group of volunteers is to have a network of people ready to serve our
community to see appropriate treatment and measures put in place to eliminate or
reduce casualties. Many of these
threats are not new. In the 20th century
20 million people died worldwide from the Spanish Flu. Bioterrorism was used in
the 1700’s during the French and Indian war by the British. Greater than 50%
of many tribes died as the result of small pox infected blankets that had been
distributed. Our challenge and goal is to immunize or give medication to our
town’s population in less than 48 hours. The theory is the quicker meds are
supplied such as 48 hours in an Anthrax exposure, 100% recovery can be expected.
Waiting a few days to initiation of POD to dispense medication would have
dire consequences as the numbers of deaths would dramatically rise.
What can I do? Job action
sheet and descriptions are being developed by Monroe County.
Volunteers are still needed to help fill all of the many duties that we
will need to accomplish. The last
meeting took place at the Riga town hall multipurpose room July 26th.
Anyone interested in volunteering is welcome to attend future meetings.
Submitted by David
Smith
Town Councilman
November
07 Newsletter Article
Jan/Feb
08 Newsletter Article
Part of emergency preparedness understands all
emergencies are local. Late fall, early winter, ice storms in Oklahoma bring
back vivid memories for many Western New Yorks who experienced the 1991 ice
storm. For many, power was restored
in three or four days. Many others had to wait for weeks before they were
reconnected to the grid. The need to have a well
stocked pantry, food that is ready to eat that can be stored without
cooking or refrigeration, water for drinking and bathing, one gallon per person
per day, flashlights with batteries, transistor radio…. The list could go on
and on. Planning is key. For more
details and information visit
www.ready.gov/america.
Gwynne Phillips continues working for our community, along with
volunteers, and other county officials, making preparations for the potential of
a health or terrorist event which may require medications to be dispensed in a
timely manner. One of the latest
activities is having a plan for a National Guard helicopter landing sight to
move supplies to our POD site and or evacuate persons needing immediate medical
attention. If you see a military helicopter in the next few weeks, you will know
what is happening. A meeting for POD
volunteers is the last Thursday of each month. Please consider serving your
community in this way.
Submitted by:
Councilmember Smith