PARIS — The Oxford County Local Emergency Planning Committee recognized Maine Veterans Home for its outstanding efforts in planning, reporting and exercising [for emergencies] during the 2018 calendar year.

Committee Chairperson Teresa M. Glick noted in a letter to the Maine Veterans Home that in 2018, “in addition to continuing to update its plan, staff conducted a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) to better understand its hazards, and collaborated with its first responders for input on upgrades and additions to the physical security systems on site. It  also rolled out a new sign-in and tagging system at the facility to maintain better accountability of all visitors onsite.

“Maine Veterans Home staff were also very active with training and exercises throughout 2018, Glick said. They participated in a Coalition Surge Test (CST) exercise, which simulated evacuation and relocation of patients from one site to other facilities within the region. Staff also participated in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Lockdown, Counter) active shooter training where they learned best practices and strategies to respond to a threat in their workspace. Lastly, they participated in a regional water district exercise that prompted them to look at how they would maintain operations in the event their water system would be unavailable or under a boil water order.”

Glick recognized that “all of this planning and training was put to the test in early 2019, when a real world propane leak occurred at the facility. Staff were able to react quickly using the procedures outlined in their plan, and the relationships created previously with their first responders allowed for a seamless integration into their command structure once they arrived on scene. Although it was a longer duration incident, there were no injuries and no major issues during the response, which is a credit to all of their hard work over the previous two years.”

 

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