Preparedness and Communications

After four surges of multiple variants of COVID-19, the pandemic appears to be ebbing. Mask mandates are now lifted for many of us. But for those left behind by the victims of COVID, any sense of normal is a long time away.

The money comes at a time when climatologists across the country watch and hope for more winter snows to quench the drought-stricken American West. That lack of moisture is expected to last years.

The state is working on deploying a Hydrology Information Center like the one in Iowa, after a period of severe drought followed by unprecedented flooding, to get a handle on the trend of warmer, wetter weather.

Aiming to "help route 911 calls to the right care at the right time at the right place," the program will use-of-state nurses to help stretched Wake County EMS staff determine the care needed.

Aurora Police Cmdr. Steve Stemmet told committee members he sees one of the biggest benefits of ShotSpotter as the ability to triangulate where gunfire took place.

With the devastating 2020 fire season and the historically destructive 2021 Marshall fire still fresh in minds, there’s a special urgency in the work, members of the legislature’s standing wildfire committee said.

All members will receive a crisis intervention training premium of 2%, plus retention bonuses of $5,000 a month after the contract is ratified and another $2,000 retention bonus in 2024.

"A lot of the criteria, a lot of the guidelines, are not as suited for wildfires," he said. "And you couple that with experiencing wildfires with increasing frequency and increasing severity, it's been time for FEMA to catch up."

The model is designed to save taxpayer money and valuable emergency management resources by addressing medical and other issues with less costly care than an ambulance trip or a trip to the emergency room.

While the emergency dispatch center needs more dispatchers to keep up a growing need, it does not have the space to put them. A new facility would help Skagit 911 improve its capacity and work more efficiently.

Californians who have had a COVID-19 booster shot have rates of coronavirus infection less than half that of those who are fully vaccinated.

The initiative aims to add capacity to overwhelmed hospitals and skilled nursing facilities by providing up to 120 extra beds statewide for patients who are ready to leave the hospital but need longer-term care.

They also are lining up emergency shelters in case there is a situation similar to the ice storm that paralyzed Holmes County in December 2004 into January 2005.

According to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, “scientists predict the chances that a mega-CSZ earthquake will occur within the next 50 years are about one in 10.”

The new system is capable of sending messages to specific neighborhoods, but only to people whose cellphones are registered. The system differs from Amber Alerts, which are sent via the federal alert network.