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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2020)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, July 15, 2020 A3 911 dispatchers request to be recognized as first responders By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Dispatchers from the John Day Emergency Communi- cations Agency asked Grant County Court to pass a sym- bolic resolution recognizing dispatchers as first responders in Grant County. Dispatcher Cammie Haney said a bill in Congress that would reclassify dispatchers as first responders instead of office administrative support workers passed in the United States House of Represen- tatives but has stalled in the Senate. Currently, Haney said, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget classifies 911 dis- patchers as office and admin- istrative support — a cate- gory that includes hotel desk clerks, secretaries and human resource assistants. “Those professions do not in any way endure the same amount of stress and trauma that comes from calmly and meticulously handling high- risk fire, police and medical situations,” Haney said. After attending a stress management class and learn- ing that little research exists about mental health among dispatchers, she decided to develop an informal survey last year using a free survey engine and shared it with sev- eral 911 social media groups she belongs to. The survey was an anon- ymous self-report and ended with an open comment sec- tion. She said about 750 responded across the country, and there were a few interna- tional participants as well. The survey revealed 18% of respondents had been diag- nosed with post-traumatic stress disorder — 2.5 times higher than the national aver- age (6.8%). Twenty percent of respondents disclosed sui- cidal ideation — over four times higher than the national average (4.3%). Three per- cent of respondents disclosed a prior suicide attempt — five times higher than the national average (.6%). Haney said the survey also revealed dispatchers and police officers have PTSD at roughly the same rate — dis- patchers at 18% and cops at 19%. Haney said, in light of the Senate’s inaction on the bill, states and counties are making changes locally by passing resolutions recog- nizing dispatchers as first responders. Haney said the counties in Oregon that passed resolu- tions include Clackamas and, The Eagle/Steven Mitchell John Day Emergency Com- munications Agency Manag- er Valerie Maynard answers questions about the center’s proposed resolution to recog- nize 911 dispatchers as first re- sponders. From left, Grant County Court members County Commissioner Sam Palmer, County Judge Scott Myers and Commissioner Jim Hamsher practice appropriate social distancing during Wednesday’s session. most recently, Harney. “By the county court approving a resolution declar- ing 911 dispatchers as first responders, they are sending a clear message to the state of Oregon and our country that the occupation of a 911 dis- patcher is more than a secre- tary sitting at a console, push- ing buttons and taking notes,” she said. Commissioner Sam Palmer said he is concerned about the liability of signing onto the resolution and asked if legal counsel or an insur- ance carrier had reviewed the proposed declaration in the event of “something going wrong.” For instance, he asked what the legal repercussions would mean for the county if a 911 dispatcher gave “out- dated” medical advice. Valerie Maynard, John Day Emergency Communi- cations Agency manager, said the resolution is “symbolic” and would go to the state and be used to build more support to push legislation on both the state and federal level. Maynard said their pro- posed resolution mirrors the one passed by Clackamas County, which was reviewed by their legal counsel. Palmer said he was also concerned that the resolution Haney and Maynard submit- ted to the court included ver- biage that a dispatcher would stay on the phone with some- one until a paramedic arrives on the scene. He asked what would hap- pen if a paramedic did not respond to an emergency, or if there was no paramedic available to answer. “This says a paramedic,” he said. “We may not have a paramedic.” Palmer said there was an incident earlier this year where a paramedic could not respond because the ambu- lance was on another call and someone else ended up responding and transporting the victims to the hospital. Haney said the proposed resolution is a template, and the court can change the language. Palmer said, if he were going to pen his name, he would like to have the word paramedic changed to some- thing else, such as an emer- gency medical services provider. County Judge Scott Myers asked if “other responders” could replace the word “para- medic.” He said it seemed like a simple fix. He said they could have the proposed resolution reviewed by their legal counsel. “I know it’s a matter of semantics,” Palmer said. “But in this day and age, semantics matter.” Maynard said she appreci- ated the concern. Haney said after the meet- ing Palmer asked a valid question and made a valid point. Maynard said the reso- lution would open up more benefits for 911 dispatchers, including access to mental health, training and eligibility for more grant funding. Palmer asked Maynard if the dispatch center offered intervention programs for the high rates of PTSD among dispatchers. Haney said there is a peer support group with Grant County Sheriff’s Office, John Day Police Department and other emergency work- ers that check in one another after traumatic events occur instead of meeting on set day and time. “It really falls back on making sure everybody is being taken care of,” she said. Haney said dispatchers also have an employee assis- tance program with a cer- tain number of mental health sessions. Additionally, she said Community Counseling Solutions recently launched a pilot program that offers four free counseling sessions to The Eagle/Steven Mitchell emergency medical respond- ers, law enforcement officers and dispatchers. Myers asked if pass- ing resolution would bring a change in pay or their Public Employee Retirement System benefits. Maynard said the designa- tion would not have any “fis- cal impact” to the county and that 911 dispatchers already have the option for early retirement. “It recognizes the dis- patcher for what they do,” she said. “We truly are the first first responder.” Emergency Operations Center update Grant County resident Jim Spell asked the court about the current status of the Emer- gency Operations Center. He said there had not been much information out to the public about the center. Commissioner Jim Ham- sher, the EOC liaison, said there is a “limited staff” that is working on an as-needed basis and said the county will interview a potential emer- gency management coordi- nator Thursday. He said the new coordinator should have a recommendation on what direction they would like to take regarding its future. Spell asked if Deputy Inci- dent Commander Chris Rush- ing was still with the EOC. Hamsher said Rushing is still working remotely “as needed.” Maynard said the dispatch center does not have any information and asked if the phone numbers at the EOC were still valid as dispatch still receive calls. She said they have been telling peo- ple they do not know if any EOC staff members are at the Grant County Regional Air- port location. Myers said there were three or four numbers exclu- sively for the EOC. Hamsher said there is nobody putting in hours to answer calls to the center, but emails are for- warded to staff members. Maynard asked that the court update the dispatch cen- ter when they hire a new coor- dinator and bring on new staff at the EOC so they can give the public accurate information. Grant County Health Department updates the court on COVID-19 response Grant County Health Department Administrator Kimberly Lindsay updated the court on the status of Gov. Kate Brown’s mask require- ment as the Health Depart- ment is responsible to enforce the requirement for hotels and restaurants. She said she spoke to her staff member who receives complaints for businesses that do not comply with the requirement and Grant County is the “best actor” out of four counties. Lindsay said, if a com- plaint comes in, the health department will stop by the business and go over the requirements. If needed, she said, they will go over the requirements a couple of times. She said a formal letter is sent to the business if they should continue to not fol- low the order, and as a last resort, there are penalties that the department is required to issue. She said the staff has not had to send out a formal letter. Lindsay said the COVID- 19 core medical group con- tinues to meet regularly and has started reviewing reopen- ing plans from a couple of schools in the district. She said the state requires the medical group to review reopening plans, and the benchmarks to meet come from the state. Health Department Accreditation Coordinator Kathy Cancilla, named the county’s emergency plan- ner a month ago, briefed the court on Grant County’s test- ing data and said there were incorrect numbers reported to the state of how many actual tests were administered. Lind- say said it appeared that not all of the results from the Abbott rapid-testing machine at Blue Mountain Hospital were submitted. Grant County Health Department Clinic Manager Jessica Winegar said Mon- day that she met with hospi- tal staff to review the numbers and confirmed that some test results did not get reported to the state. “Over the last six weeks, it appears that a few test results were not submitted and/or some tests did not have appro- priate items checked to be included in the counts,” Win- egar said. “The issue has been rectified — all results have been submitted and state con- firmed receipt.” Winegar said the hospi- tal’s lab is currently being reviewed for the second time for all of the lab’s tests. A “new electronic pathway” was developed for reporting the test results and she confirmed that as of Monday afternoon Grant County continues to have only one positive test from March. In other county news: • The members of the court signed on to officially endorse the Zero Suicide Ini- tiative and framework being implemented by Community Counseling Solutions. Lind- say said CCS would include the endorsement from Grant County Court on their web- site. Lindsay said CCS offers suicide prevention train- ing and recommended those interested in learning more about suicide prevention to go to CCS’s website as they have links to the “Question, Persuade, Refer” training program. • Lindsay asked the court to sponsor CCS on its appli- cation for a Community Development Block Grant to remodel the building they purchased from the county. She said her goal is to bring the CCS staff under one roof. She said she met with Busi- ness Oregon, and it looks like they qualify, but they would need the county to sponsor CCS. Myers said the county is sponsoring Heart of Grant County for the construction of its domestic voilence cen- ter. Lindsay said the county can sponsor up to two block grants. Myers and Palmer moved to sponsor CCS, but Hamsher suggested the court check with the Grant County Fairgrounds. No Matter how big or small your trophy was or if you just want to share a hunting adventure, send or drop off your best hunting photos or stories to 195 N Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845 • kim@bmeagle.com Your photos could be published in this year’s EAGLE HUNTING JOURNAL Please have them to the Eagle by August 8. S195775-1 S189136-1
