Support needed for medical devices during outages
Our recent swarm of power outages caused by our recent wind storm triggered personal medical emergencies. The outages may have lasted only five or six hours with an outdoor temperature of only about 40-degrees, but they still managed to trigger medical emergencies.
We have a neighbor under hospice in her home. She became chilled in her bed without a heating blanket, and the hospice caretaker could not operate the electric bed in order to turn over and sanitize her patient. The caretaker was also losing her cell phone service.
I, and many other CPAP users, were faced with sleeping without the needed treatment.
The list of needed low power medical devices that will fail in a power outage is huge. Oxygen generators, hearing aids charger, CPAP, blood pressure monitors, ventilators, glucose monitors, etc.
Our recent major wind storm gave just tiny peek into what we are in for with the occurrence of other more destructive community emergencies i.e. earthquakes and tsunamis. These scenarios could leave us without emergency device power not just for hours, but days, weeks, months.
How do we tackle the medical power needs of the approximately 17,000 disabled people in Clallam County ? The number may be far higher because the many many CPAP may not be considered disabled.
John Konrath
Sequim
A response from Clallam County Fire District 3
We at FD3 are always looking for ways to educate our community and teach them self-reliance prior to any emergency. We are faced with any number of risks each day. Prevention and preparation are the most important components in dealing with these risks. Then, if a true emergency exists, the fire department is here and will respond and provide assistance as we are able.
Living in the Pacific Northwest we are all subject to the possibility of power outages. Whether it is caused by seasonal storms, summer wildfires, or the possibility of catastrophic collapse of infrastructure due to a seismic event. If you rely on electricity as your sole energy source, a key step in your preparedness planning is to identify alternative means of operating your devices. This can be accomplished by talking with your care provider, completing any number of Emergency Power Planning checklists, and possibly purchasing alternative power supplies (generators, battery back-ups, etc.).
If you rely on supplemental oxygen, make sure that you are trained in how to switch over to a stored pressure system (oxygen bottles) and that you have an adequate supply on hand to last throughout the event. This supply is dependent on the oxygen supplier and your doctor to determine your consumption rate and needs.
For more preparedness training opportunities, consider attending a CERT program (bellelealand.net/cert).
In any event, such as a power outage, emergency responders and resources can be used up rather quickly. Self-reliance and sound preparedness is the best way to ensure that when the lights go out, you don’t have to worry because you have a plan to implement and rely on.
Chris Turner
CCFD3 battalion chief
Interim editor’s note: the following three letters were submitted by Sequim High School students following a class assignment. – MN
Bypass for Port Angeles
I’ve lived in the Sequim and Port Angeles area for my whole life. With my family being avid hunter’s fishermen and all that good stuff, having to drive through Port Angeles every time we want to go out west, we must drive through P.A. I think there should be a bypass to skip the time going through town. Now, yes, there was talk about when the bypass for Sequim was going in that there would be less people going through the small town. Well, now Sequim has grown a ton since the bypass was put in.
Cody Dunscomb
Sequim
Open pink salmon fishing
As someone who has fished in Sequim for the majority of my life and has seen the Dungeness River pink salmon run a number of times, I have come to the question: “why we can’t fish for them?”
During the summers over the past couple years, I’ve found myself on the banks of the Dungeness River just astonished at the number of pink salmon in the river.
As a student athlete I can hardly find the time to get out and fish the fall season for the coho as practices often end at 6:30 p.m. and by then it’s always dark. So, I came up with the idea to help those who can’t get out as much due to busy schedules — open a kids season 18 and younger to able to fish for the pinks so those younger anglers who are new to fishing can get a chance to catch some fish.
I’ve read from several different sources that over the years the pink salmon run has averaged anywhere from 20,000-40,000 fish. I also understand the concern that the summer chinook which are highly protected could be caught and not handled correctly when caught causing the numbers to possibly dwindle. One way to solve this would be to highly regulate the season. Open it for a week or two and have the only legal section to fish from the bridge on East Anderson bridge to the mouth.
Ezekiel Schmadeke
Sequim
The decline of jobs in our school system
The taking away of jobs in our school system puts stress on the teachers, staff, students, and the overall school system itself. As a student at the high school for three years now, I’ve noticed the decline of staff at our school. It definitely shows in the way things are more out of control. During lunch, there is only one person in the library that supervises almost 50 kids at a time. A lot of the time it’s chaos because she can only handle one situation at a time. Whereas before we cut some jobs, we had two helpers in the library. It was secure and unshakeable. Cutting jobs off leads to less clubs, classes, and compacity of the school. A way we could help this problem is address it first. We can do this by making it be known that we need to bring back the jobs being let go. When we bring the jobs back, we would see an increase of the town’s economy and a more secure school system. But most of all we would have a happy school.
Lincoln Bear
Sequim
