Friday, January 7, 2011

Wintery Weather on Tap

The National Weather Service has advised us of wintery weather on tap for this weekend and mid-week next week. Details are still sketchy, but consider this your advance notice, as this could be played up in the media.
What we do know:
*Wintery weather is possible in the next several days for lower elevations.
*Light snow accumulations are possible Saturday night through Sunday morning.
*More significant snow and ice are possible mid-week next week.
*Details are still very uncertain, especially for next week's system.

Keep checking our blog for more information. We'll keep you informed as soon as we know more.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Post-Earthquake Buliding Safety Evaluation Class

Announcing an upcoming training opportunity in Columbia County March 16th.

The course is ATC 20: Procedures for Post-Earthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings. It will be an interactive class and will train individuals to inspect buildings for safety of occupancy after an earthquake. Manuals and a working lunch will be provided to students.

Topics covered will include:
* Evaluation procedures
* Case studies of wood frame, masonry, concrete and steel structures
* Considerations for inspecting various construction types
* The Posting System
* Structural basics

When: Wednesday, March 16th, 9 AM to 4 PM with registration starting at 8:30 AM
Where: Columbia County Roads Administrative Office, 1054 Oregon Street, St. Helens
Lunch: A working lunch will be provided
Materials: Field manuals will be given to each student.
Register: By calling 503-366-3931 or emailing emergency.management@co.columbia.or.us

Pre-registration is required.
Registration closes Friday, February 25.

County, Columbia River Fire Sharing Resources

Columbia County Agencies Share Resources

to Prepare for Health Emergencies.

ST. HELENS–Columbia County and Columbia River Fire and Rescue (CRFR) recently agreed to share individual medical resources for their employees in the event of a major disease outbreak or bio-terrorism attack.

The agencies are now joint members under a program known as the Push Partner Registry, an effort of Columbia Health District - Public Health Authority and the Portland-metropolitan Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI).

The Push Partner Registry, a program under the Cities Readiness Initiative allows Columbia Health District (CHD) to leverage their limited resources through partners to help the general public. According to CHD public health preparedness coordinator Anne Parrott, in specific public health events CHD will focus on providing assistance to the general public as quickly as possible; Push Partners support this effort by running their own medication dispensing operation. “This removes the burden on public places of medication dispensing and keeping vital services, such as residential care facilities, open during the event,” Parrott stated.

Local agencies are taking advantage of the program in order to assist public health officials and protect employees. "Columbia County was really interested in this program, but we wanted to find a way to share it with a local partner in order to maximize taxpayer resources," said Derek White, director of emergency management for Columbia County. "With our close proximity and great working relationship with Columbia River Fire and Rescue, we felt that it was a great fit."

CRFR believes that participation is vital to what it does. “Prompt immunization and vaccinations of agencies who perform emergency response and maintain the critical infrastructure governmental services is critical in the successful mitigation of an event that posses serious health and exposure risks,” said Brian Burright, emergency medical services division chief at CRFR. “Participating in the Push Partner Registry assures that vaccinations can be rapidly dispensed to those agencies.”

Public agencies and private employers are welcome to join the Push Partner Registry for free. For more information, contact Anne Parrott at 503-397-4651, ext. 2022 or aparrott@chdpublichealth.com .