Rotary Log for June 4th by Aileen Dugan
Photos by Leo Gagnon
 
I was delighted to see Past District Governor Peter Johnson at the meeting today.  Peter was District Governor during the year I served as President. His wife Carolyn was District Governor last year. Peter has been serving as District Foundation Chair for the past three years. Now his term is currently coming to an end.  In his role as DFC, Peter came to say thank you for our support. In the past we had about one third of the membership contributing annually to the Rotary Foundation.  We now have almost two-thirds. The average gift of $129 per person is up from $70 last year.
 
Peter spoke of his personal commitment. He explained that giving to the foundation connects him more deeply to Rotary and its mission.  He also reminded us that Foundation giving stays in the District.  Our Club currently has a global grant with Friends Forever for around $45,000.  Congratulations to Bob Herold and his committee for raising that number.
 
Recognized for Paul Harris giving to the Rotary Foundation at the plus-one level were Sara Treacy, Bill Hurley, Luis Melchor and John Lyons. Gene Doherty received her Paul Harris plus three, Jay Gibson plus four and Dave Underhill plus five.  Bob Herold thanked everyone for their support. He also recognized Neal Ouellett, a Paul Harris Fellow in excess of eight times! Great job, Neal!
 
 
We received a flag from the Rotary Club of Bulgaria. 
 
Priscilla MacInnis thanked everyone for helping with the Hands-On project for the Working Dog Foundation. They replaced 10 windows, flooring, and the roof for a start and had a nice lunch together.
 
Len Seagren is on his way to Sao Paola, Brazil for the 2015 Rotary International Convention.  He urged anyone with interest in international service to contact him. He will help you brainstorm to find opportunities.  It doesn't cost as much as you think!
 
Andy Chace was very excited to announce the Golf Tournament has 30 more golfers than it had last year.  There will be an 8 am shotgun start next Friday.  Cleo Villaflores is managing the volunteers.  It appears the tournament this year will be another great success thanks to more help from the new and improved Golf Committee. 
 
Jim Rini introduced our speaker, Dr. David Heller.  Dr. Heller is an emergency room doctor at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. He serves as Chairman of the Emergency Preparedness Committee, also called the "Doomsday Committee."
 
Make no mistake, his presentation was thought provoking. He alluded to so many threats to humanity that I couldn’t possibly catalog them all here in one article!  Heller asked what the worst disaster that we can think of would be. Tragedies like Titanic and the Hindenburg framed our past thinking about the scope of tragedy, he said. Then 9/11 happened and our thinking about disaster preparedness was reframed. It will never to be the same.
 
 
 
The Disaster Preparedness Committee assesses and prepares protocols for events that could lead to mass casualties in our area.  His first example was a dirty bomb, which is a bomb laced with radioactive material dispersed when it explodes.   The risk of huge casualties and containment of radioactive contamination are one aspect of emergency planning.  The need to protect the staff that is delivering emergency services is another important consideration. Bioterrorism, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters represent a risk of large loss of life. They are all included in emergency risk assessments. 
 
The Seabrook Nuclear power plant gives us the added risk of a large radio-active industrial accident.  Emergency preparedness has to anticipate an accident or disaster occurring during the summer months. Some 100,000 additional tourists are at our beaches in the summer.
 
The hospital itself is at risk as a facility. The physical plant has the possibility of many internal malfunctions.  For starters, the structure relies on computers and therefore power and other "what ifs".   These types of concerns keep Dr. Heller up at night!  I don’t blame him.   
 
 
Dr. Heller's wife Colleen is from New Orleans.  Not surprisingly, the couple followed events surrounding Hurricane Katrina very closely. Only one hospital in New Orleans was adequately prepared.  After Katrina, new recommendations came out of the Joint Commission of Hospitals. These recommendations state that hospitals should be able to be self-sufficient for 96 hours. A tertiary recommendation was that hospitals cannot be the only point of service. Alternate sites that can stock masses of antibiotics and other trauma care supplies need to identified and prepared.
 
How can we be prepared at the community and individual family level?  Each year the team looks at potential disasters, their likelihood and the impact they would have. They consider the overall impact including loss of power and lack of computers. They also look at the need to pull doctors and nurses out of their area of specialty to help. They categorize Mass Casualties as Level One, Two and Three. Level Three is an "all hands on deck" situation.  Every employee would then be required to respond to the Hospital.
 
HICS stands for the Hospital Incident Command System. It consists of small teams and specialty positions that facilitate an organized response to mass casualties. ICS is also utilized by the City of Portsmouth, the Police Dept., Fire Dept. and the EMS. There are liaisons designated between the teams so that response can be coordinated smoothly. Team members wear vests labelled with their position to facilitate communication and care. Portsmouth has the unique position of having all of the specialties represented on their staff.  Mettags are used to identify, triage and direct the placement of incoming wounded.  They use a system called NXT communications. The system summons employees through multiple communication channels in the event of an emergency. 
 
Personal emergencies include a person with a weapon in your place of business. Another example would be a fire in your home or exposure to hazardous materials.  Personal preparedness means having a family meeting place and a plan, especially if communication systems are down. 
 
It’s all sobering food for thought. And, if nothing else, Dr. Heller’s talk made us do just that.
 
Respectfully submitted, Aileen Dugan
 
 
 
 
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