7.21.2020 Work Group Meeting

7.21.2020 Situation Report presented at the meeting

Discussion regarding hospitals:

The hospitals are overwhelmed. Bay Medical and Gulf Coast have each opened an upper floor and are trying to modify it to support the COVID patients. They do not have the ability to convert to positive pressure in the newly modified rooms. There is nowhere to transfer patients. All possible locations are full with patients in the hallways. 

People are being sent home with antibiotics and oxygen. Hospitals don't have the supplies to set up forward triage facilities.

Outreach Report

The Saturday July 19th Food Giveaway

At least 475 cars and 450 cars received literature before the rain began. 

Stopped counting at 425 cars when the rain began

Registered approx 700

125 volunteers

800 volunteer hours

45,000 lbs food + 1 pallet of water

133 surveys 

Rebuild Bay will be stepping down from direct food distribution operations to supporting churches and others to conduct these events, and to support them so they are successful. Would like to give them the full COVID Emergency Kits. We have about 225,000 masks. Some are from FEMA with restrictions and are for non-profit staff and volunteers, but there are masks that can be donated to people in the community who don't have masks.

Education Work Group

Passed out literature. Many cars were full of all their possessions. Multiple families were doubled up in cars. Many disabled people came for food. Many said they knew opeople who had tested positive.

Encouraged people to take the survey. There are 133 surveys.

LGBTQ Center of Bay County has bags with thermometers and pulse oximeters. Ready to survey and gather information to drive policy.

Business Work Group supplied the low frequency radio used for communications to people in cars that were waiting for food. Folks had comments about the music and sponsor advertisements. Informatio portion was every 11 to 13 minutes with a new advertisement for a group engaged in COVID response. It was a 3 hr 15 min broadcast. No information was repeated. 

What can be done better?

The distributionsw are hard. Executed to the plan with some adjustments. Had 85 cars in line before intake began. 7:30am people arrived. If started earlier perhaps more would have taken the survey. Rain created problem with literature delivery to cars.

Once the line got going the 100 car stack was reduced. Intake folks went through the cars quickly. In an active lane you can't hold people for surveying. Intake had to move to relieve the pile up. Otherwise it ran very smoothly.

What went well?

Loading the cars went smoothly, and the rain picked up the pace. The distribution point teams were extremely efficient. The Government Center is great for logistics. It is logistically better than the mall. 

Questions and Comments:

Is it possible to add a testing site at the distribution events? There is concern about the visual/the feel of a combined event. Advertising a 12pm start, maybe do the testing 8am-12noon and make it a walk up testing. It gives early arrivals something to do while they are waiting. That way forls in the stack of cars can walk up and get tests before the line starts moving.

Pallets broke up some of the tile flooring, so we don't knowe if they will want a repeat at the Government Center.

It could work with health care workers going up and down the line to test people waiting for food.

Could AAA sponsor roadside assistance for anyone whose car breaks down. 

How many of these people would have been in line pre-COVID?

After seeing and talking to the people in the line, it was need driven.There are food distributions about every day. The schools give out food at 2 schools every day of the week, and now there are these other places as well. There are churches and organizations in every community. We need to get people at those facilities to get agreements in place to help these folks manage.

The population avgerage age is around 65 years old in the 4 churches that are in the communities, and they just don't have the ability and physical strength to do what is takes to do a large scale food distribution event.

Are we creating a culture of dependancy? Can we get local organizationsbout 5 churches serving 30 or so people a week to feed some of their own people? It is important to get the smaller organizations to stand up. Get an agreement in place, get volunteers, etc.

The project with Medical and Public Health Information Sharing Environment (MPHISE) was introduced and discussed.