A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
LOCAL NEWS
Echo woman assists Irma victims New food vendor ordinance
By JADE McDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
By JADE McDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
When it comes to hur-
ricanes, Cindy Parks has
been there, done that.
Parks, an Echo resident
and pharmacist at St. An-
thony Hospital in Pendle-
ton, recently returned from
a three-week stint caring
for “medically fragile”
Hurricane Irma evacu-
ees in Naples, Florida. In
the past she responded to
hurricanes Ivan, Katrina,
Rita, Gustav, Ike, and Su-
perstorm Sandy. She may
head out to Puerto Rico to
help with Hurricane Maria
recovery next.
“Most people are com-
passionate,” she said.
“Most people want to help
and I’m one of the lucky
ones because I get to do
something to make a dif-
ference.”
Parks is part of the Na-
tional Disaster Medical
System, which sends teams
of medical professionals to
assist overloaded local pro-
fessionals in responding to
a disaster or public health
emergency. In addition to
the hurricanes, the Oregon
Disaster Medical Assis-
tance Team she is a member
of deployed to the aftermath
of the 2010 Haiti earth-
quake and has flown in to
help provide support during
non-emergency mass gath-
erings such as the pope’s
visit to Washington, D.C.
Each team — which is
made of a balanced group
of doctors, nurses, thera-
pists, specialists, veterinar-
ians, command staff and
others — is on call during
one quarter of the year, but
Parks said the rapid succes-
sion of disasters recently
meant teams from fourth
quarter, including hers, had
to deploy early.
While some teams were
directly treating victims in-
jured in hurricanes Harvey,
Irma and Maria, this time
Parks’ team was flown by
military plane outside of
the disaster zone to Naples,
Florida, where a large high
school was sheltering about
1,000 people evacuated
ahead of time from Hurri-
cane Irma. Those evacuees
were all classified as medi-
cally fragile, meaning they
were in a wheelchair, on
oxygen or had other special
medical needs.
“They were isolated
with no news as to whether
their home was still there,
or their family was OK,”
Parks said.
She said she was grate-
ful the team includes a
mental health professional,
because it was a difficult
time for many of the evac-
uees beyond just the phys-
ical discomfort of sleeping
on a cot inside a school for
weeks.
Irrigon nurse Kelly Sul-
livan and retired Pendleton
paramedic James Thomas
also deployed to Florida
from Oregon. Usually Na-
The city of Stanfield has
passed an ordinance regu-
lating mobile food vendors
in the city.
While the city hasn’t
had food trucks regularly
in the past, a request for
a business license to run
a food truck sparked con-
cerns from the city council
that permanent seating and
other features would be
added to make trucks more
of a restaurant than a true
mobile vendor.
“There was a desire to
have them mobile and clean
and operating as a mobile
food vendor should,” city
manager Blair Larsen said.
The final draft of the
ordinance, which was orig-
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Pharmacist Cindy Parks of Pendleton consults with patient Jan Cavallaro of Pendleton
about possible drug interactions after Cavallaro underwent knee replacement surgery on
Monday at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM
CINDY PARKS
Pharmacist Cindy Parks
poses for a photo during
her deployment to Naples,
Florida for Hurricane Irma.
tional Disaster Medical
System deployments are
scheduled for two weeks at
a time, but sometimes are
extended to three or more,
as was the case this time.
In some disasters Parks
has been directly in the im-
pact zone.
“During Sandy, the hos-
pital was damaged so badly
we were setting up tents in
the parking lots and people
were coming through there
instead,” she said.
Parks said the worst of
all her deployments since
she joined the team in 2000
was Hurricane Katrina,
which killed more than
1,800 people in total. Af-
ter the initial devastation
injuries continued to pile
up as people had accidents
wading through deep, de-
bris-filled water or using
chainsaws to try and clear
through the wreckage.
“Hurricane Katrina was
the most awful thing I’ve
ever seen,” she said.
The National Disaster
Medical System is a feder-
al program under the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services. Person-
nel are trained to support
communities with medi-
cal care and mortuary as-
sistance as requested by
state governments and are
considered federal employ-
ees when in the field. The
system is made up of more
than 5,000 professionals
organized into more than
70 teams around the coun-
try.
“Hurricane Irma put
people’s health and lives
in jeopardy, and NDMS
members are answering
the call of duty to help
residents affected by this
disaster,” NDMS Acting
Director Ron Miller said in
a statement. “When a state
requests our assistance, we
will be there to serve until
NDMS services are no lon-
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ger needed.”
To provide effective as-
sistance, teams from each
state participate in rigorous
training each year designed
to help them work together
quickly in a variety of cir-
cumstances. Parks said one
recent training involved
practices setting up medi-
cal tents in the snow on Mt.
Bachelor.
She said she signed up
to work on an NDMS team
because she likes helping
people — the same reason
she became a pharmacist.
She may be getting rec-
ognition for responding to
high-profile disasters, but
she said just as important
are the “unsung heroes”
who cover her shifts at St.
Anthony and take care of
other things that allow her
to leave home for weeks at
a time on very short notice.
Other NDMS personnel
continue to provide support
for Hurricane Irma.
———
Contact Jade McDow-
ell at jmcdowell@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-564-
4536.
Gas station rebranding as Sinclair
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL
Workers switch the 76 sign to a Sinclair sign as the fuel
station on Hermiston Avenue changes brands.
Fuel dispensers and
signs are being replaced at
the 76 gas station in Herm-
iston to rebrand the station
as a Sinclair.
Linda Lancaster, store
manager, said the business
will still be under the own-
ership of Hattenhauer Dis-
tributing of The Dalles.
“It will still be the same
good-quality fuel we’ve
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had here,” she said.
Lancaster
said
the
store is still open, and un-
less workers run into any
problems the new fuel dis-
pensers should be up and
running on Thursday, or
possibly even Wednesday
afternoon.
The station is located at
710 W. Highland Ave. in
Hermiston.
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inally based on Hermis-
ton’s mobile food vending
ordinance and then went
through several revisions,
was passed during the Oct.
3 city council meeting.
Mobile food vendors
must be located in the
downtown district or other
industrial or commercial
zones, and must be at least
200 feet from the property
line of any restaurant un-
less the owner gives writ-
ten permission.
The vendors must not
add seating, tables, shades
or other such items for use
by patrons to eat on-site.
There are other rules
and restrictions as well, in-
cluding hours of operation.
For more information
contact Stanfield City Hall,
541-449-3831.
Tickets available at Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce.
Connie Ferranti • 541-564-0137
For more information, call 1-800-962-2819
2x3 EXAMPLE
Celebrate your loved ones in our
VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE
We are so
proud of you
for serving
your country.
Free Example:
Honoring those who have served
and those who are currently serving
our country!
They’ve served our country with
courage and honor. They’ve left
behind loved ones to risk their
lives while protecting our country.
They’ve defended our freedoms
and ideals. They make us proud to
be Americans. Help us honor them.
SALUTE E
1x4 EXAMPLE
Love
Evelyn,
We are
so
Joe
proud and
of you
Cheryl
for
serving
J OSEPH S MITH
your country.
J OSEPH B. D AVIS
Staff Sergeant
Joel Davis
US Marines
Veteran
This special section will print in the Hermiston Herald on Nov. 8 and
in the East Oregonian on Nov. 11, 2017. There is NO CHARGE to
be included. Bring us or send in photos of servicemen, servicewomen
or veterans, along with the information in the form to the right, by
November 2.
Thank you for
your service!
Love Evelyn,
Joe and
Cheryl
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include a special message, border, flags, or stars
and stripes, rates are $40 for a 1x4” space or $55
for a 2x3” space. Private party only.
Please call 1-800-962-2819.
Love always
Marcy, Julie &
Emily
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Currently Serving Veteran (Check One)
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