THE LAND OF FIRE AND ICE A Tale of Contrasting Calamities—

By J. Brandon Thornock, COO, Safety Officer, Shasta Community Health Center

DISCLAIMER

Any statements made—written or verbal—during the course of this presentation should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product or service.

Other than being employed by Shasta Community Health Center, the presenter has no financial incentives whatsoever with any organization whose products or services may be mentioned.

SHASTA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AN OVERVIEW—

• Shasta Community Health Center’s mission is to provide quality health care services to the medically underserved populations of our communities.

• 122 FT & PT & Contracted Clinicians

• 40,000 unduplicated patients per year

• 147,000 visits per year

• 475 Staff members

SHASTA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AN OVERVIEW—

• Family Medicine

• Pediatrics

• Healthcare to the Homeless

• HIV Care- Early Intervention Services

• Integrated Substance Abuse Services

• NP-PA Post Graduate Fellowship

• Family Medicine Residency Program (THC)

• Dental – Oral Health Services

SHASTA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AN OVERVIEW—

• Interpreter Services

• Health Education Services

• Medically Assisted Therapy (MAT)

• Outreach and Enrollment Services

• Whole Person Care Case Management Services

• Integrated Outpatient Primary Care Case Management Services

SHASTA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AN OVERVIEW—

• Telemedicine

• Transgender Services

• Urgent Care

• Specialty Care Clinics

• Pre-Natal/Obstetrical Services

• Primary Care Neuro-Psychiatry Services

• Integrated Behavioral Health Services

SHASTA COUNTY—LARGE AND PRIMARILY RURAL

CARR FIRE INCIDENT SUMMARY

• 229,651 acres burned

• 7th most destructive CA wildfire

• 8 fatalities (including 3 firefighters)

• Thousands evacuated

• Acute care hospital NICU

• Multiple healthcare facilities

• Multiple evacuation shelters supported

CARR FIRE TIMELINE AND CLINIC RESPONSE—

• July 23, Carr Fire Ignition

• July 24, Moderate Spread

• Smoke and ash fill sky

• Fire jumps seven blade-wide dozer line

• July 25, Winds Pick up, Evacuation

• Response from clinic

• Distribute N95 Masks and water

• Purchase and distribute HEPA filters

CARR FIRE TIMELINE AND CLINIC RESPONSE— • July 26—Thursday

• Winds push fire toward Redding overnight

• Fire whirl jumps the Sacramento River into city limits

• Evacuations continue in West Redding and residential areas

• Evacuation of Mercy Medical Center Redding NICU

• Clinic Impact—22 employee callouts

• Emergency message emailed and sent via text

• 30 employees leave early due to evacuations for a total of 52

• All clinic locations open

CARR FIRE FIRENADO • July 26—

• 7:30 pm eruption of firenado

• 1 fireman and 3 residents perish

• Winds up to 136-165 mph (equivalent to EF-3 tornado)

• 1,000 ft. in diameter

• 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit

• 17,000 ft. tall

• Lake Keswick Estates moving for Redding

CARR FIRE TIMELINE AND CLINIC RESPONSE—

• July 27—Friday

• 95 staff members call out

• Close 5 locations

• Close homeless outreach van

• Power outages

• Poor breathing conditions

• Create Carr Fire Message Board for staff needs

• Deploy the HOPE van to local evacuation site

CARR FIRE TIMELINE AND CLINIC RESPONSE— • July 28—Saturday

• Destruction of several structures continues

• Fire fighters rally to contain the fire and redirect

• Clinic Response—

• Deploy HOPE van to local evacuation site

• Emergency communication out to staff—”Any staff available to work should report to the main clinic Monday morning”

• Urgent Care open to address acute needs

CARR FIRE TIMELINE AND CLINIC RESPONSE—

• July 29—Sunday

• Deploy HOPE Vans

• July 30—Monday

• 79 call outs

• Power restored

• Deploy HOPE vans

• CAL-MAT deployed by EMSA to support evacuation site medical needs

• July 31—August 30

• Reopen all clinics as power restored

• Emergency systems stabilize

CARR FIRE AFTERMATH

SNOWMAGEDDON • February 12, 2019—

• Extremely wet and heavy snow

• 7 to 14 inches of snow

• Weight of snow—

• Broken branches

• Uprooted trees

• Slick roads

• Damage to power lines/poles

• People trapped in homes.

• Blocked roads

SNOWMAGEDDON

SNOWMAGEDDON

SNOWMAGEDDON

SNOWMAGEDDON

SNOWMAGEDDON AND CLINIC RESPONSE • February 13, Journey to the Clinic

• Extensive property damage

• Impassable roads

• Downed powerlines, etc.

• Abandoned vehicles

• Clinic Impact—

• Close all clinics

• Leverage the emergency communication system to notify staff and patients

SNOWMAGEDDON AND CLINIC RESPONSE • February 14—

• Power is restored

• Some roads cleared

• 54 employee call outs

• Report to work and piece together teams to provide care

• Leveraged emergency communication system to notify staff and patients

SNOWMAGEDDON AND CLINIC RESPONSE

• February 15—

• 15 employee call outs

• Patients begin to show up for appointments

• Snow melt

• Some roads safe for travel

• Flooding begins in some areas

• South of Redding around Chico and north of Sacramento

SNOWMAGEDDON AND CLINIC RESPONSE

LESSONS LEARNED • Test emergency communication systems regularly and during off hours

• CareMessage (texting)

• Email

• Ham radio

• Plan for variety of situations

• After action report

• Stock helpful supplies (N95 masks, HEPA filters, generators, water filters)

• Contact the local Emergency Operations Center for deployment

• Take advantage of Good Samaritan organizations

• Direct Relief—Secure funding for impacted staff and emergency equipment

• Contribute to the overall communication picture through the Sitrep process

SINCE THE CARR FIRE AND SNOWMAGEDON

• MyEOP Application

• Access to emergency plans, phone numbers, links to MSDS, fillable forms, etc.

• Center for Mind-Body Medicine Trainings

• Program for healing of population-wide psychological trauma

• Increase engagement with Shasta Tehama Health Care Coalition

• Budget and plan to ensure all locations can operate in the event of power loss

• Large enough generator to accommodate the load of each of our buildings

• Sufficient hotspots and cellular data cards to maintain internet connectivity

RESOURCES USED • National Park Service – Timeline of Carr Fire Events –

https://home.nps.gov/whis/carr-fire-timeline.htm

• Record Searchlight – Local Impact of Carr Fire and Photos – https://www.redding.com/story/news/2018/07/31/carr-fire-update-what-we-know-tuesday/869848002/

• Record Searchlight – Local Impact of Snow Storm and Photos – https://www.redding.com/story/news/2019/02/13/redding-snow-totals-california-weather/2859945002/

• ABC Channel 10 News via YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1fV5Uq_b4A

• CBS Sacramento via YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SyFAxcylO0

QUESTIONS?