Local Emergency Planning Committee
Disaster
What do EMA Director
Stacy Rhodes, Health Department Interim Director Charles
Turner, the Union County Red Cross, local businesses,
teachers, churches and other volunteer organizations,
nurses, physicians, pharmacists and first responders all
have in common? They are pooling their expertise and
energies to help organize Union County before a
disaster, such as a tornado or pandemic, strikes. Should a
portion of the county be devastated by tornado and a
long-term shelter opened, there would need to be a pool of
nurses to provide round the clock care. In the absence of
an animal control officer, plans need to be in place to
provide care for pets and abandoned animals, and deal with
dead livestock. Volunteer chain saw crews may be needed to
assist in clearing the roads for emergency personnel. A team
will be needed to manage both In-Kind donations and
spontaneous volunteers. Food will need to be acquired,
stored, prepared, and served. Space needs to be located to
do this.
In the event of a
pandemic, local businesses should have a continuity of
operations plan as 30-40% of the workforce is anticipated to
be ill. Schools, government entities and utility boards
need to plan to operate with such a workforce reduction.
Residents will be asked to self-isolate and may need
delivery of groceries or medications.
All communities must be able to survive on
their own for at least 72 hours. A basic organizational
Union County Disaster Preparedness meeting will be held
August 10. The purpose of this meeting will be to learn to
communicate, collaborate, coordinate and cooperate in the
event of any countywide disaster. We will identify
specific jobs essential to disaster recovery and those who
are willing to do those jobs. There will be an
overview of pandemic flu planning. This initial meeting will
allow us to network and know whom to contact in the event of
any disaster. If you are interested in participating, please
contact Dr. Swisher at
DocSwisher@aol.com to reserve a spot. Seating
is limited.
The purpose of this meeting
will be to learn to communicate, collaborate, coordinate and
cooperate in the event of any countywide disaster,
specifically a pandemic. We will identify the areas of
expertise of each group and what they are able and willing
to do and outline the specific functions that each group
would be responsible for. The meeting will allow us to
network and know whom to contact for what in the event of
any disaster. For instance, we may possibly need to identify
a location for processing spontaneous volunteers, another
for food distribution, yet another for food preparation
The date for this
Disaster Committee is Thursday August 10th from
10-11:30 AM at the Cherokee Health Center on Maynardville
Hwy. It will be important to the
success of this effort to have as many Union County people
involved as possible.
Please contact me at
DocSwisher@aol.com to let me know if you or a
representative of your organization will be attending this
meeting on August 10th.
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