Hello, everyone!
Sam here!
Rod continues to learn the tremendous number of intricacies in our job in emergency management at a pace and under pressure most people could not handle.
“Trial by fire,” he says, shrugging, after handling yet another phone call from an irate individual who did not understand what an EMA does.
Since our last update, we have had quite the time suddenly becoming a chosen county to host a Missouri National Guard Mass Vaccination Event. If you have been keeping up with our blog, you understand how the weather has affected the event and that it has been rescheduled. You might have seen the FAQ page about the postponement, too! It has been quite…busy here, to put it mildly.
As we juggle that event, we continue with the jobs we are still responsible for in our day to day activities. We have almost completed updating the emergency contact list for our county’s Local Emergency Operations Plan. We have had in-person meetings with some of the partner organizations and stakeholders to gauge their cooperation in assisting us with the much-needed overhaul of the LEOP.
We have completed a grant to help with funding the mass vaccination event coming up. This grant will help the EMA and the Camden County Health Department to cover overtime pay for vaccinators, staff, and first responders who will need to work before (setting up), during (vaccinating and traffic control), and after (clean up), equipment needed inside and outside the school (gloves and other PPE, traffic cones, etc.), food to feed the volunteers, vaccinators, and first responders for the duration (warm meals during the cold weather, a heavily discounted arrangement with Woods Supermarket!), heaters for the warming tent our CERT members will be running for the police officers and guardsmen running traffic control to use, and more!
A HUGE thank you to our representative in Washington D.C. for the amazing guidance and help to not only consider everything needed and help walk us through the process, but also for her patience and the accelerated rate the government is using to help counties cover unexpected costs as we work to get vaccinations to anyone who wants them!
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Previous blogs in this series
Camden County, MO Emergency Management Agency 