American Red Cross shelters have been operating at the Albany Civic Center and Avalon United Methodist Church since last Thursday, with the Civic Center shelter still operating as of Wednesday. At those shelters, representatives of the Southwest Public Health District have been pulled in on a 24/7 basis to ensure the public’s safety.
At the shelters, up to two nurses per shift are on duty, along with clerical workers. Dougherty County Environmental Health staff inspected the Red Cross and Good Samaritan shelters before they opened and later conducted daily inspections.
Epidemiologists were also brought in to address any potential communicable diseases that might present a problem, including stomach and respiratory illnesses.
“We check all residents when they come in,” Dougherty County Health Department Director Vamella Lovett said. “We don’t want an outbreak in an area like this.”
Some instances of chest pain and blood sugar fluctuation have occurred at the shelters, in which case arrangements are made to get individuals to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Lovett said.
Shelter management has been a collaborative effort among the city of Albany, Red Cross, Public Health, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, and the Emergency Management Agency.
When the storm hit the area last week, Public Health employees’ disaster training paid off.
“We were able to start right off with the Red Cross and open the shelters,” Lovett said.
Lovett said the storm that hit Jan. 2 differed from the Flood of 1994 in that the main problem this time was a warm place to sleep, rather than losing everything. She also said she has been in contact with state Public Health officials to keep them up to date, and that overall the shelters have been running smoothly.
Dougherty County Environmental Health Director James Davis said a list of predesignated shelters is maintained, and when they are needed, inspections are done prior to opening to make sure the disaster did not compromise the facility’s safety.
Environmental Health officials have also been keeping an eye on restaurant sites impacted by the storm, helping them get back up and operational as soon as possible. This includes guidance on food safety following a power outage, and conducting re-opening inspections for those that have had prolonged power loss.
Davis said that, as of Wednesday, 19 of the 20 restaurants impacted by the storm had re-opened.
Some Public Health staffers have been limited in their ability to help with recovery efforts due to the impact on their homes. The Dougherty County Health Department and Baker County Health Department were impacted with the storm, along with the district’s main office on North Jackson Street.
Aside from a lack of heat at the main office and no power at Dougherty’s environmental health office, the district’s facilities were operational on Wednesday. The Environmental Health staff has been working remotely since their displacement.
“We haven’t missed a beat,” Davis said.
Environmental Health is encouraging the community to contact the agency’s offices at (229) 438-3943 with questions regarding food safety and well water screening. Meanwhile, free tetanus shots are being offered at all the district’s 14 county public health departments for those injured doing recovery work.
“If they are injured and it breaks the surface of the skin, they should be immunized,” said Dr. Charles Ruis, director of the Southwest Public Health District.
The Public Health staff is expected to be on site at the Civic Center as long as the shelter is open, which was tentatively planned to close today. Sixty-seven people were sleeping there Tuesday evening, Public Health officials said.
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