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Ice Storm 2008 Deployment MA Region 4A. Liisa Jackson, Coordinator. Summary. All shelters and all volunteers met their mission, which was to provide a safe space with food and medical care as needed.
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Ice Storm 2008 DeploymentMA Region 4A Liisa Jackson, Coordinator
Summary All shelters and all volunteers met their mission, which was to provide a safe space with food and medical care as needed. This event provided Region 4A as well as other state and local emergency teams an opportunity to exercise our plans for a mass care event. It also provided an opportunity for us to identify communications, delivery and deployment methods that would strengthen future responses.
Summary, cont’d On Friday, December 12, 2008, an ice storm struck New England, causing power outages for up to a million residents and businesses in five Massachusetts counties (Worcester, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire). Governor Deval Patrick declared a State of Emergency, which continued until Monday, December 29th. Many shelters were set up in northern Worcester County to accommodate those without heat or electricity, including residents from several senior living centers. Among several organizations that responded to this emergency, the Region 4A Medical Reserve Corps itself provided 167 volunteers and covered a total of 335 shifts at these shelters, most of which remained open throughout the following week, with the last shelter closing on Wednesday, December 24th. Including non-Region 4A volunteers, the Region 4A Command Center coordinated a total of 227 volunteers and covered a total of 413 shifts.
Details • In response to power outages due to the disastrous ice storm of 12/12/08, northern Worcester County opened several shelters and asked Region 4a for help in staffing these shelters (see slide 9 for Area of Impact). The numbers of shelters grew from three on 12/12 to 28 by 12/14 and the last shelter was closed on 12/24. • The MRC Command Center contacted all Region 4A Boards of Health, and most released their volunteers to assist with the emergency. Several Region 4A communities were directly impacted by the storm (including Acton, Maynard, Marlboro, Hudson, Stow and Littleton) and activated their MRCs to cover local shelters. • For the first 48 hours, calls to volunteers were primarily initiated by at Command Center by staff and volunteers. For the remainder of the event, calls were initiated by Local Boards of health in conjunction with local MRC executive committees in the Region 4A.
Details, cont’d • Region 4A provided 167 volunteers over the course of the emergency, covering 305 total shelter shifts. Of these shifts, 111 were covered by medical personnel (see slides 11-13 for details by Region 4A town, and slide 15 for daily coverage type). • The Region 4A MRC Command Center also assisted in coordinating deployment for 41 MRC volunteers outside of Region 4A, and partnered with several other agencies in responding to this emergency (see slides 10 and 14). Region 4A volunteers also staffed 25 shifts for telephone coverage, and provided 7 transports. • The MRC contribution was noted in the December 2008 MEMA Report (which also cited assistance from the Citizen Emergency Response Team, or CERT), with the following acknowledgement, “Dozens of volunteers from outside the affected areas pitched in tirelessly to help wherever needed, giving many local Emergency Management Directors a newfound appreciation for both CERT and MRC.”
Lessons Learned • Deployment requests and communications must be issued using multiple methods, including not only email and website updates but also telephone contact. In response to this: • It is recommended that each MRC executive committee divide their volunteers into teams of no more than ten people, with a Captain assigned to do call-downs in the event of an emergency. Quarterly deployment drills will ensure that this arrangement operates efficiently when an actual emergency occurs. • Back up personnel must be identified for all critical positions, including team Captains and MRC Command Center Coordinator. • The town of Hopkinton has now set up a connect CTY available to all Region 4A communities to enable rapid contact of volunteers.
Lessons Learned, cont’d • In any deployment it is important to assume that volunteers will be required for 7 days in order to minimize the need for repeated calls to volunteers as the event progresses. • Volunteer tracking forms were needed, developed, and strengthened during this event and continue to be improved. • In order to strengthen communication between State shelters and the MRC, conference calls with all active agencies should occur twice daily starting when the EOC is activated.
Next Steps • A questionnaire has been designed and will be issued to all volunteers (whether deployed or not) to gauge effectiveness of communications and deployment as well as to obtain general feedback. A follow-up report will be issued once these have been completed and returned.
Response Partners • American Red Cross • Upper Merrimac Valley Medical Reserve Corps • Taunton Medical Reserve Corps • Greater New Bedford Medical Reserve Corps • MA Region 2 MRC • MA Region 4B MRC • Boston MRC • Brookline MRC • Our Fathers House Nursing Home • UMass Memorial Medical Center • Hopkinton Fire and Police Department • Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) • Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) • Department of Mental Health (DMH) • Riverside Trauma Center • Public Health Departments of affected communities
Response by Town: Region 4A North 56 volunteers 112 shelter shifts (32 medical) 6 transports
Response by Town: Region 4A Central 53 volunteers 111 shelter shifts (43 medical) 10 phone tree shifts 1 transport
Response by Town: Region 4A South 62 volunteers 107 shelter shifts (36 medical) 15 phone tree shifts
Coverage, Including non-Region 4A OTHER includes 7 volunteers from DMH, 10 from UMASS, 1 from Salvation Army and 1 from Senator Kerry’s office.
