Emergency preparedness
Chairman Tom Philippou signed a memo of understanding from the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), granting permission to allow medical and nonmedical outsiders to volunteer to help the town during an emergency. Whether the disaster is man-made, in the case of terrorism, or nature-based, as in a hurricane, each town in Massachusetts must be able to produce 40 volunteers per emergency dispensing site. To date, an insufficient number of Harvard residents have signed up. Volunteers must be ready and willing to assist on a moment’s notice, Philippou said. He explained that workers have to specify if they are willing to travel, how far, and for what period of time.
Nashoba Associated Boards of Health Sanitarian Ira Grossman clarified that while the town is offering some volunteers, the MRC “would actively recruit other healthcare professionals for the list and get people from other communities to help Harvard.”
A test-run was done of the emergency preparedness system last year, said member Lorin Johnson, involving flu vaccine trials. The test checked to see if the Medical Reserve Corps program could function in a national emergency. Some problems were found—“mostly organizational and when large groups came in, but by and large, it worked.”
Discussion ranged from the use of cell phones during an emergency (not a given) to a train wreck in Brockton and product tampering.
Johnson asked Grossman what prevented tampering with vaccines, and was told that once a serum is dispensed, “a town member goes and picks up the serum in the presence of a police officer.”
The phone system Philippou also talked about is “a very sophisticated phone system,” which lists volunteers according to three priorities. He said it’s not clear how name selection works, whether by rotation or some other process. Grossman said in the event that power is lost in an area, the MRC is able to get cell phone service because the state has the ability to tie into Verizon’s mobile units.
“During an emergency, most cells don’t work,” said Philippou. “Only key people have access.”
Grossman recommended that the health board take advantage of subscribing to the Worcester Sheriff’s office’s “reverse 911” program that notifies phone users of an emergency by automatic message. Free of charge to each town for one year, the program will train the department heads of fire, health, police, and the Board of Selectmen. When the trial period ends, a small charge is allocated. Groton, for example, pays a $700 fee. Sign up for the free period, and then re-evaluate, Grossman suggested. The board will think about it.
Currently there are approximately 40 MRC units in Massachusetts. Harvard belongs to the Worcester Regional MRC.
Anyone interested in volunteering to provide either medical or nonmedical assistance can check the Web at www.worcesterregionalmrc.org/apply.shtml for more information.
School pesticide spraying
The board will write to the School Committee to ask for the fertilizer and pesticide plan for school grounds. Public notification is required by state law, including the tagging of grounds.
Resident Deborah Skauen-Hinchliffe, a regular attendee at health board meetings, produced a May 2007 e-mail from health board member Sean Doocey stating that the schools had paid TurfLinks of Sutton close to $5,000 for almost four tons of a fertilizer called Nature Safe. Its manufacturer describes it as “100-percent natural and organic.”
Budget cuts?
A discussion about the budget revealed that the volunteer board members do not see any fat in the numbers. The health board’s total budget comes to $26,914, the bulk of which goes to Grossman and part-time clerk Shana Large. Approximately $1,000 goes for office supplies. Representing level funding and statutory pay increases for time and service, the budget can only be reduced by cutting office supplies.
