SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020 | 7A
PREP from page 1A
The Siuslaw School Dis-
trict, for example, had been
planning for the past two
months for an outbreak, in-
cluding stocking up on fuel
and creating plans to get
food out to the community.
But as School Board Presi-
dent Guy Rosinbaum said,
there was little organization
with the rest of the commu-
nity.
“There doesn’t seem to be
a lot of coordinated effort in
making sure these agencies
are talking to one another
at the moment, besides us,”
Rosinbaum said during a spe-
cial school board meeting on
Wednesday, March 18.
While the district’s prepa-
rations have been used as an
example for other districts
across the state, the mandate
of the school can only carry
them so far.
“We’re trying to make them
understand we’re here to sup-
port them and their children
while they keep this com-
munity functional, as well as
whatever else we can do to
help with that,” Rosinbaum
said.
While the school district
has staff ready to volunteer in
multiple capacities, they are
still limited in what they can
and cannot do.
Other agencies have made
progress as well. Lane County
has declared a state of emer-
gency to allow funding, and
the City of Florence will most
likely follow suit in a special
meeting Monday, March 23,
at Florence City Hall. The Siu-
slaw Library District has been
disseminating
COVID-19
fact sheets to the public and
has offered its services as re-
searchers to any organization
in the community.
“The library has done a
great job of getting informa-
tion on their website,” Schick
said. “The food banks and
Siuslaw Outreach Services
(SOS) are great. Working with
the police department and
dispatch has been great too.”
It’s a sentiment shared by
Siuslaw School Board Vice
President John Barnett.
“Overall, our community
in general has been outstand-
ing through this,” he said on
Wednesday. “Our leadership
roles [referring to Florence
Police Chief Tom Turner,
Peace Harbor COO Jason
Hawkins and Siuslaw School
HAVE FUN!
BEACH SAFE!
BEWARE THE SNEAKER WAVE
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How to play it safe: If you see a log in the surf or
on wet sand, stay off it.
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Rip currents are strong currents of water that
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Incoming tides isolate rocks from headlands and
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Tides and waves can sweep over rocks, jetties and
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How to play it safe: Assume nothing is “high
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edge.
District Superintendent An-
drew Grzeskowiak] have been
nothing short of amazing.”
Residents have begun cre-
ating groups to help in vari-
ous capacities, and businesses
have stepped up to feed the
community.
Still, the general consensus
— and largest hurdle — has
been an overall lack of orga-
nization and cohesive leader-
ship.
“I think we do need to
get some leadership going,”
Schick said.
That is something he be-
lieves will be figured out as
soon as Friday, March 20, as
the city, fire and school dis-
tricts meet together.
“One of the topics is to look
at what the incident com-
mand structure looks like,”
Schick said. “Is there going
to be an incident command-
er? Is this going to be staffing
eight hours a day, 24 hours a
day? Who’s going to handle
public information officer
duties? We absolutely need to
get these answers out to the
public.”
Soon after the meeting,
the group, along with other
organizations in the commu-
nity, need to solidify and en-
act plans immediately, Schick
said.
Two organizations that
would have normally acted as
leadership in an emergency is
Lane County and the Western
Lane Emergency Operations
Group (WLEOG), but both of
those organizations have their
limitations.
Over the past number of
years, WLEOG had a repu-
tation for being prepared, of-
ten quoting the United State
Coast Guard motto of “Sem-
per Paratus” — the definition
of always prepared. But the
detailed plans that WLEOG
created were for natural di-
sasters such as tsunamis, win-
ter storms and earthquakes.
Ultimately, the plans were
designed around an event
that would leave other towns
intact.
“If you look at a tsunami, is
that going to impact Eugene?
Probably not. And so, we
can rely on Eugene,” Schick
explained. “With the corona-
virus, it’s unique in that not
only will it impact Florence,
but it’s impacting the entire
world.”
Areas thought to be spared
from natural disasters that
could have helped the Siuslaw
region are now under the
same threat and are dealing
with the same issues.
“In our emergency oper-
ations plan, we don’t have a
chapter on an infectious dis-
ease outbreak,” Schick said. “I
would say most communities
didn’t have that because it was
so rare for something like that
to happen.”
The region could lean on
Lane County for help, but
that also has its limitations.
While he praised the work of
the county, Schick said their
resources will only go so far.
“I’m pretty impressed with
what the county is doing,” he
said, pointing out that the
public health officials with
the county have been instru-
mental in getting personal
protective equipment (PPE)
for WLAD and SVFR.
“But I don’t know how
much longer we can rely on
their help,” he said. “At some
point, the country is going
to get overwhelmed. Eu-
gene-Springfield is just going
to absorb all their resources,
so I think we need to be pre-
pared. We’re going to have to
provide for our citizens.”
Ultimately, the Siuslaw re-
gion will be on its own and
will have to rely on its own
resources to pull through —
and the time in preparing for
that inevitability is running
short.
While Jim McGovern, MD,
PeaceHealth Oregon Network
Vice President of Medical Af-
fairs told the Siuslaw News
last week that COVID-19 is
“likely” in the Florence com-
munity, Schick pointed out
that it is most likely limited at
this moment.
“Right now, you walk
around town, everybody’s
feeling good, it hasn’t hit us
yet,” said Schick. “If you watch
the infections in the state of
Oregon, it’s slowly moving
down the I-5 corridor, which
you’d expect.”
However, with spring break
approaching,
COVID-19
could reach the region in
days. A popular vacation des-
tination, the Siuslaw region
could see visitors coming
from around the West Coast
looking to escape the stress
of the pandemic, as has been
seen on Florida beaches in the
past week. And as tourists ar-
rive, so too could more cases
of COVID-19.
“I’m hoping that spring
break is very quiet here,”
Schick said. “I know that hits
our businesses pretty hard,
but I think they’re already hit
hard. I think the feds and state
are working to help ease that
burden on our businesses, but
I’m hoping for a very quiet
spring break, and the beaches
are empty. But that remains to
be seen.”
If COVID-19 were to ap-
pear aggressively in the re-
gion without preparations
and precautions, the possi-
bility of a higher fatality rate
could increase exponentially.
“Worst case scenario, the
fatality rate could be any-
where from a couple percent
to five or six percent,” Schick
said.
Before joining the fire ser-
vice, Schick was a research
scientist working on synthetic
blood. He completed his the-
sis on biological warfare situ-
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HEADS UP
Standing at the base of an Oceanside cliff can
be dangerous, especially if it has an overhang. In
some places, winter storms and high waves have
eroded the shoreline, increasing the chance of
collapse and slides.
How to play it safe: Beware of falling rocks, and
don´t climb on bluffs and eroding hillsides. Don´t
walk along the base of cliffs unless absolutely
necessary.
shared responsibility to pro-
tect each other and our most
vulnerable populations. I un-
derstand that making these
hard decisions is difficult and
often disappointing. If we do
our part to slow the spread of
COVID-19, those events will
be more meaningful.”
Henry also cautioned resi-
dents from discrimination.
“We
cannot
combat
COVID-19 if we turn on each
other or stigmatize people
who test positive and become
ill,” he wrote. “That only puts
sick people and the broader
community at-risk because
it discourages people from
getting tested, getting care
and staying home. We are all
afraid of the unknown and
how this virus will end up im-
pacting our lives. It is our job
to remain kind and support-
ive during these uncertain
times.”
For social distancing and
self-quarantine to work, the
community needs to have an
organized response to help in
the event of an order to shel-
ter in-place.
“If we’re going to be shelter-
ing in place, which I wouldn’t
be surprised if that’s coming
down here really shortly …
how do you meet the ba-
sic needs of your citizens if
they’re staying at home? How
can they contact us or the
proper people in the com-
munity so we can make sure
they get help?” Schick asked.
“I think those are some of the
other questions we need to
find answers to.”
And after the sheltering
ends, what then?
“Are they going to have to
stay in their home for months
and months?” Schick asked.
“Is it just a couple weeks?
When they come out, do you
then have new exposures?
Right now, nobody knows.”
But to ensure that those
who do stay in place can sur-
vive, the community needs to
start taking concrete actions
now.
“I think we’re not prepared
as we should be,” Schick said.
“I was hoping we had more
time to do that, but I think
we’re absolutely starting along
that path. I think we have to
ramp up very quickly.”
Ultimately,
community
members will have to remain
calm, ready and determined
to work together. This will
include all organizations
and volunteer groups, from
city governments to WLAD,
SVFR, the school district,
the library district, nonprof-
its such as Siuslaw Outreach
Services, Helping Hands and
local food shares.
“I’m so impressed with this
community and how they’re
willing to help each other,”
Schick said. “We need to take
advantage of that and get ev-
erybody working together. It’s
not a lack of people wanting
to help, which is a good thing.
It’s just coordinating those
efforts. I’m cautiously opti-
mistic that we’re going to get
things going in the right di-
rection really quick.”
240
HOURS
Is your family prepared?
If an emergency happens in your community,
it may take emergency workers some time to reach you.
You should be prepared to take care of yourself and
your family for a minimum of 240 hours.
rd
2020 Fo
Ranger
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When asked what a death rate
in the region would look like,
he said the possibilities varied
on response.
The Siuslaw Vision esti-
mates the Siuslaw Region
to have 18,000 residents. A
6-percent death rate could
claim the lives of 1,080 peo-
ple. In a worst-case scenario,
that would mean at least 540
dead in Florence (pop. 8,947),
82 dead in Dunes City (pop.
1,375), 58 dead in Mapleton
(pop. 963), and hundreds
more in other areas, such as
Collard Lake, Swisshome and
Deadwood.
Those numbers are what
Rosinbaum referred to as a
“surrealistic nightmare” that
keeps him awake at night.
“There’s no herd immuni-
ty,” he said. “The only way to
get there is either by a vacci-
nation for the disease, which
we don’t have, or getting the
disease itself — which our
most vulnerable in town can’t
do. It’s not an option.”
To prevent the highest
number of deaths, the entire
Siuslaw community must
practice precautions such as
“social distancing, which is
a fantastic idea,” Schick said.
“Staying six feet apart or
more.”
Schick also recommended
cancelling all in-person meet-
ings and, instead, relying on
teleconferencing.
“And washing your hands
constantly,” he added. “Disin-
fect doorknobs. If you’re sick,
stay at home. Throw away
Kleenexes right away, cough
into your elbow. Make sure
that you’re not exposing peo-
ple.”
And be aware that the ma-
jority of COVID-19 spread
in other countries has come
through people that did not
know they carried the coro-
navirus — because they were
not exhibiting systems.
“One of the problems with
the coronavirus is, you may
be infectious for a little while
before symptoms start up,”
Schick said.
Even with all that to think
about, he also cautioned the
community against panic and
hoarding.
“Stop hoarding toilet pa-
per,” he said first. “I don’t
think you need to wear a
mask unless you have symp-
toms, I would leave those to
the first responders because
we’re running out of masks.
We’re running out of sup-
plies.”
Social distancing then be-
comes a responsibility for ev-
ery Siuslaw resident, regard-
less of age, as City of Florence
Mayor Joe Henry stated in a
letter to the community earli-
er this week:
“We urge our communi-
ty members to adhere to the
social distancing measures
being implemented by the
State of Oregon and the Cen-
ters of Disease Control. These
measures mean we may need
to postpone our important
events, such as weddings,
celebrations of life and other
events of gathering. It is our
2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence
(541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475
Get your emergency fi rst aid kit started with these essentials:
❑ First aid manual
❑ Aspirin or pain relievers
❑ Laxatives, diarrhea medicine
❑ Rubbing alcohol, petroleum jelly
❑ Soap, salt, baking soda
❑ Sanitary napkins, matches
❑ Triangular bandages
❑ Elastic bandages, pressure dressings
❑ Cotton balls, disposable diapers
❑ Scissors, needles, tweezers
❑ Popsicle sticks, splints, heavy string
❑ Thermometer, paper tape
❑ Syrup of Ipecac
❑ Personal prescription medications
This message brought to you by the West Lane
Emergency Operations Group. www.wleog.org
IDENTIFY • PREPARE • SURVIVE