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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
Medics: ‘We stepped in because we had nothing’
Continued from Page 1A
The group of 23 local vol-
unteer surgeons, nurses, coun-
selors and other health care
specialists is the only one of
its kind in Clatsop County, and
only one of four on the Ore-
gon Coast. It has been slowly
growing and training to be a
team that can be deployed to
address medical needs in an
emergency.
The concept of a medi-
cal reserve corps is nothing
new. The corps, a national net-
work of volunteers charged
with improving the health and
safety of their communities,
has existed for decades. More
than 900 groups are registered
throughout the United States.
There is also a statewide reg-
istry of health care profession-
als who can be deployed in an
emergency.
But Cannon Beach is a
part of a small but growing
number of cities taking emer-
gency management practices
into their own hands, Clat-
sop County Emergency Man-
ager Tiffany Brown said. It is
unusual for a city to take on
operational training and sup-
ply requirements of a medi-
cal reserve corps — most are
operated through a county-
wide public health authority.
It’s even more unusual for
a city of 1,700 people to do so.
“(There is) a general trend
down the coast and rural coun-
ties in general to begin local
planning and commit local
resources in anticipation that
the traditional, perhaps more
regional, resources will not be
available,” Brown said.
‘Boots on the ground’
The idea to start a medical
reserve corps in town came
out of the greater need to have
more disaster response volun-
teers, since a majority of city
staff and first responders do
not live in Cannon Beach.
Bins of medical supplies and other items line the shelves
of a storage facility near Cannon Beach.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A volunteer group in Cannon Beach has assembled over 4,000 medical supply items
that can be distributed in case of an emergency.
“We already had a (Com-
munity Emergency Response
Team) program, but we were
missing the specialists after an
emergency,” Cannon Beach
Emergency
Management
Consultant Stacy Burr said.
“This is really about getting
boots on the ground to multi-
ply medical services. Because
when you only have a couple
of paramedics in town during
an emergency, you are pretty
much overwhelmed.”
Part of the drive came from
medical reserve corps coor-
dinator Lila Wickham, who
was inspired to launch a unit
in Cannon Beach after partic-
ipating in an earthquake and
tsunami drill at Camp Rilea.
Wickham was concerned about
the town’s lack of a hospital to
provide medical services, par-
ticularly during emergencies.
The need for local resources
was bolstered by memories
of the Great Coastal Gale in
2007, which led to flooding
and road closures that isolated
Cannon Beach for days, pre-
venting agencies like the Red
Cross from responding. The
county has a variety of pub-
lic-health related cache sites,
but none specifically in Can-
non Beach.
“We stepped in, because we
had nothing,” Wickham said.
These needs are part of the
reason why the corps has a
stronger focus on training to
be “medics in the field,” Burr
said, rather than the more gen-
eral charges of a public health
agency.
Wickham and fellow coor-
dinator Bob Wayne, a retired
surgeon, now work with Burr
and Police Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn to conduct state-pre-
scribed training on handling
how to triage a mass casualty
scene, drownings, shelter man-
agement and other first aid.
When they aren’t training,
Wickham works to grow their
stockpile by writing grants
for supplies or organizing the
donations they receive from
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal and Providence Seaside
Hospital. In the cache sites,
shelves are stacked high with
meticulously organized boxes
of supplies like bandages,
hemostatic agents, gauze and
aspirin.
“This is really different
from the hospital environment
most of us are used to,” Wick-
ham said of the volunteers.
“Treating people in an austere
environment has a whole new
set of challenges. We work off
a nationally standardized tri-
age system. You can’t spend
time on people who are prob-
ably going to die. You don’t
have all the conveniences
that you would in a hospital.
It’s just not how we think in a
clinical environment. And it’s
important to train like it.”
‘Different dynamic’
Running a program like
Some of the items in the storage facility include supplies
stockpiled by private citizens.
this in such a small town does
run some risks.
“If it was run through a
health authority, they have a
larger footprint. So if one of
your team members moved
away, you could still have con-
tinuity because the institu-
tion has a larger pool to draw
from,” she said. “Everyone
here is a volunteer.”
But that same shortcom-
ing is also what Wickham
attributes to the corps’ early
success.
“I think it also makes you
more impassioned if you
choose to do this. You won’t
be reimbursed,” she said. “It’s
interesting to be in a team
with your neighbors doing
this. One day I see you around
town, the next day you are
playing a victim in a mass
casualty drill. It’s just a differ-
ent dynamic.”
Burr hopes to grow the
number of volunteers as
quickly as they did the sup-
plies, inviting professionals
from surgeons to social work-
ers to join, she said. They also
need to bolster their pediatric
and veterinary supplies, such
as baby formula and diapers.
“In the end, all we have
to rely on in an emergency is
who is there,” Wickham said.
Ousley: Candidates
have until March 6
to file for primary
Continued from Page 1A
A suspense and young
adult fiction author, she serves
on the Seaside Public Library
Foundation Board.
Ousley volunteers with
progressive activist group
Indivisible North Coast,
canvassing for the recently
passed health care ballot mea-
sure and trying to increase
voter registration. Another
focus of the group has been
getting more people to run for
office.
“I see running for office
as a way to expand my ser-
vice to my community,” Ous-
ley wrote on her campaign
website.
Among her values are
making health care and edu-
cation more accessible and
affordable.
“I’m concerned about
the environment, protecting
our gorgeous coast and for-
ests and advocating for clean,
renewable energy,” she wrote,
expressing concern about
potential offshore drilling.
The state should establish
caps on greenhouse gas emis-
sions, require emitters to pur-
chase allowances and use the
revenue to invest in renew-
able energy and communities
affected by global warming,
she wrote. “District 32 could
benefit from these measures,
and we have the potential to
lead these efforts.”
Candidates have until
March 6 to file for the May
primary.
Hotel: Plans for further
development scrapped
Continued from Page 1A
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
An Amtrak train derailed in December above Interstate 5 in DuPont, Wash.
Engineer: Investigation
could take up to two years
Continued from Page 1A
Three people were killed
and dozens of others were
hurt Dec. 18 on the route to
Portland. The train was car-
rying 85 passengers and crew
members as it made its inau-
gural run along the fast, new
15-mile bypass route.
The summary said the
engineer and conductor were
in the lead locomotive as the
conductor underwent training
and familiarized himself with
the new route. Both said they
felt well-rested. The engineer
said he didn’t feel distracted
by the conductor being in the
locomotive.
Neither man has been
identified by NTSB. How-
ever, the summary says the
engineer was a 55-year-old
man hired by Amtrak in 2004
as a conductor before being
promoted to locomotive engi-
neer in 2013.
The conductor, a 48-year-
old man, said the ride marked
the first time the two men had
worked together and there
was minimal conversation
between them.
He said he looked up from
his paperwork after hear-
ing the engineer mumble out
loud, just before the derail-
ment, then sensed the train
was going airborne.
The conductor was hired
by Amtrak as an assistant
conductor in 2010 and was
promoted to conductor the
following year. He said he
attended a job briefing with
the engineer, going over gen-
eral track bulletins and other
items at the start of the shift.
Garrick Freeman was
identified as the conductor
after filing a lawsuit against
Amtrak, claiming the com-
pany failed to provide a safe
work environment. He said he
suffered multiple broken ribs,
a fractured clavicle and seri-
ous internal injuries during
the derailment.
NTSB said it will continue
the investigation by compar-
ing the crewmember accounts
with information gained from
videos and a data recorder,
and will consider human
performance and opera-
tions, as well as signals and
train control, and track, engi-
neering and mechanical
factors.
The investigation could
take up to two years.
and, most recently, the Port of
Astoria. The tank was likely
placed more than 70 years
ago, but knowledge of its
existence was lost somewhere
between the ownership turn-
over, West said.
“It’s just sitting there and
no one knew it was under
there,” hotel spokeswoman
Donna Quinn said. “It would
have been nice for them to
have disclosed that through
the years.”
Robert “Jake” Jacob
bought the docks in the
1990s, repaired one of them
and built the luxury hotel on
top. Water surrounding the
tank is leased — rather than
owned — by the hotel.
Initial plans for further
development on a dock next
to the hotel — more rooms, a
restaurant and a shop — were
scrapped due to high costs,
West said. The oil tank is
located under that dock.
The hotel will be involved
in paying for the cleanup,
and while the total cost is
unknown, management fears
it could be substantial, Quinn
said. A number of prospective
guests have even called the
hotel, which has been open
during the cleanup, to check
if it had closed.
“We’re just biding our
time and hoping this doesn’t
shoot us in the head,” West
said.
Situated along the river,
the hotel is prized as a des-
tination for its picturesque
views. The hotel has coor-
dinated with environmental
groups during the spill.
“We really take our
responsibility for the health
of the estuary seriously,”
Quinn said.
The sheen has raised ques-
tions about whether a similar
event could happen in other
former cannery sites around
Astoria. Once a booming can-
nery town, many of the piers
that used to house the opera-
tions have been left in ruin.
“Who knows, unfortu-
nately, what could be under-
neath all the canneries by
piers?” Quinn said.