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a. Emergency Preparedness and Public Health - Rebecca Estes
Chris Kelley and Rebecca Estes introduced themselves to the Board of Health. Kelley told the board that he had worked with the City of Columbia for 23 years in public safety. He currently works as the Director of the Boone County Office of Emergency Management. He briefly explained his staff at the Office of Emergency Management and what federal agencies help fund his operation. The Office of Emergency Management coordinates with municipalities and other entities to ensure the safety of persons and property during an emergency event. Kelley named a few events that the office of emergency management attends and prepares for, such as Mizzou football
games or large-scale protests. Kelley recommended the Board of Health take a tour of the Office of Emergency Management. The Board was receptive to his recommendation.
Planner Rebecca Estes explained her job to the Board of Health. Every county in Missouri must have at least one person who is the Emergency Preparedness Director. Boone County has multiple people in the city and county that plan for emergencies, Estes included. The Emergency Preparedness Director convenes all emergency preparedness partners to plan for any emergencies.
Estes states that Boone County experiences a lot of flooding due to the Missouri river swelling. Some areas flood fairly regularly and the county prepares people in the area for that. Kelley stated that urban flooding has increased in Boone County and all over the country due to global warming. Tornadoes have also become a concern in the area in recent years, especially after a tornado struck Jefferson City a few years ago. After any flood or emergency, partners must provide preliminary estimates for the cost of damages to both the state of Missouri and to the federal government. Estes stated that ice storms are the busiest time for emergency preparedness due to power going out, food going bad, and accidents caused by ice. Emergency preparedness also monitors chemical spills in the area caused by runoff from industrial sites.
Kelley said that Boone County has 103 outdoor emergency sirens in Boone County. They plan on adding ten more sirens in areas they deem to have a sufficiently large population.
Columbia and Boone County receive funding from the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Grant (PHEP) which began in 1999 as a competitive bioterrorism grant due to a spike in anthrax attacks. It was reprogrammed after 9/11 to offer public health emergency preparedness funding for all state and local communities. PHEP is mostly a pass-through grant from the CDC to the State of Missouri to PHHS. Certain requirements have to be met by Missouri to receive the funds. For a municipality or state to receive PHEP funding, 15 capabilities must be reached. Estes said that multiple city agencies and departments are coordinated to make sure that each department can do its roles in emergency management. The role fulfilled by the health department is to provide surveillance on potential hazardous materials that might be biological, chemical, or radiological. This would include helping to coordinate food and water safety. PHHS also provides mass prophylaxis to first responders and the public. PHHS works with other departments and agencies to coordinate messaging so that the public would receive information all at once. An incident command chart was shown to the board to help them visualize how the command structure would work in case of an emergency. An operations chart was also shown to the Board where it explained the role of each division in responding to an emergency. She explained some roles done by the health department during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes tracking volunteer hours and providing vaccinations.