George has been a firefighter and EMT for nearly 20 years, with much of the last 15 focused on mass casualty and chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear-explosive (CBRNE) incident response. For 5 years he was the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital in Rural Maine (including during the Ebola scare). He's helped write Emergency Operations Plans for facilities ranging from a few to a few thousand people.
George is a best friend to everyone at camp! His warm and welcoming energy has staff and campers of all ages feeling safe and secure in his care. He is always there for you, with a smile, a bad joke, and a positive outlook on life. We touched base with him this week to see how he is doing and here is what he's shared with us:
"We’re taking things one day at a time and trying our best to comply with CDC recommendations (as PPE availability permits, so far neither of my departments have been short, but we’ve been having comparatively low call volumes).
There is a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and assessment going on that the general public doesn’t see and many wouldn’t understand even if they did. A few years ago, I was on a state-wide task force to develop what’s known as 'Crisis Standards of Care' which would go into effect if the medical system were overwhelmed. Fortunately we are not there yet, unfortunately 'yet' may be the key word there.
For me, knowing there is a plan (especially one I helped develop) takes a lot of stress off because it reduces the amount of 'ready-fire-aim' that goes on.
Many of my colleagues and coworkers have more than one job or fire/EMS agency they work for, which puts stress on them and their loved ones. But we’re all supporting each other and most, if not all, departments/agencies have plans in place to take care of their employees and families if there is an exposure/case.
If I were to give any advice to the public I would say this: there are some of the best and brightest and most experienced minds in the country and world working on this; we WILL get through it TOGETHER by following the guidance of RELIABLE sources such as state and fed CDC."
We're excited to have George join us again for another amazing summer at camp and commend him for all the great work he's been doing for his community!