Floyd EMA’S outreach extends during pandemic
♦ The agency’s observations will be part of a national look at how the country handled COVID-19.
More than a month and a half after Floyd County had its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus, local emergency management agency director Tim Herrington continues to keep track of where his help is needed.
It’s how his department normally operates — a resource agency making sure people who need food, supplies and shelter can get access to those things during the most trying times. But he said the current COVID-19 pandemic has escalated that need to a widespread level that he and his department have worked diligently to make sure is met.
“We’re having to reach out to other agencies to make sure they’ve got what they need, and if we need any assistance we’re able to use our network of contacts and find more resources. And that’s worked out pretty well,” Herrington said.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, not just on our part, but everybody that has been involved — from first responders to government officials. We’ve got a long way to go, but I think it’s looking good overall.”
Floyd County EMA has partnered with local first responders, along with the Georgia EMA State Operations Center and the local Department of Public Health district office, to assist in the ordering and distribution of personal protective equipment for both first responders and staff at local nursing homes.
Herrington said they have been able to get hand sanitizer, N-95 masks and other essential items now that the initial rush at the beginning of the outbreak in mid-march has eased.
“Of course, we’ve had a lot of local donations of those items as well and we appreciate those,” he said. “We take those and the items we get through the National Stockpile and get them to first responders for them to continue to provide services to the community. We’re all in this together. We’re doing our part just like they’re doing their part.”
Herrington also checks the daily Covid-19- related numbers from the two hospitals in the county, Floyd Medical Center and Redmond Regional Medical Center. Those are submitted by the hospitals to the Georgia Healthcare Alliance and made available to state and local officials through the GHA 911 website.
“It’s just a point of trying to keep the community as informed as we can as we move forward with the COVID issue we have here. Hopefully our numbers are going to stay down and we will return to some sense of normalcy, if you will,” Herrington said. “I hope we’re nearing the end, but time will tell.”
When there is a point that this crisis has passed, Herrington said they will be ready to report to the state and be part of the national after-action review on how the response was handled.
“It’s going to be on the scale of the review of the response to Hurricane Katrina and 9/11,” he said, adding that reports and documents will be analyzed over and over to determine what were the best practices and what holes are in the current planning processes that need to be addressed.
“I’m encouraging people here to write down what things are going well and what things haven’t gone well. I see this current pandemic can definitely be a catalyst for not just the EMA but, moving forward, for pandemic planning on the whole. Because what we’ve done in the past is so different from what we are experiencing now,” he said.