Photo By Jessica Dambruch | Kwajalein Hospital Deputy Administrator Shana Darrah prepares personal protective...... read more read more
You must be wondering about the golf cart driver on Ocean Road this week wearing a face mask and biohazard suit. If you missed him, here’s a recap of how he got there. This week, with help from visiting dignitaries from the U.S. Embassy Majuro and the Republic of the Marshall Islands government, U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll practiced a COVID-19 response drill with support from its LOGCAP partners. The goal was to perform the steps in a scenario in which island personnel prevent a COVID-19 threat and take preventative measures.
In the scenario, three persons under active surveillance were confined in quarantine on Lagoon Road after arriving from Majuro April 15 at Bucholz Army Airfield. They were met by personnel from Vector Control, Kwajalein Hospital and Alutiiq Security and Access Control.
Members of the visiting delegations assumed the roles of PUAS for the drill. The visitors sanitized their hands and donned protective coverings before receiving medical and security screenings and transportation to quarantine.
The remaining visitors, prominent advocates of RMI healthcare, observed the drill and followed their colleagues to the quarantine house: U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands Roxanne Cabral; RMI Ministry of Health and Human Services Secretary Jack Niedenthal; MOHHS Deputy Secretary Mailynn Konelios; Seaport Port Authority General Manager Thomas Maddison; RMI Dr. Aina Garstang and Dr. Frank Underwood; U.S. Department of the Interior Fred Nysta; and Kwajalein Atoll Senator David Paul.
The threat of COVID-19 has led to unprecedented teamwork throughout the atoll community to prevent the spread of the virus. With no known active cases in the RMI, the garrison continues planning for the unexpected.
If the visitors were actual persons under active surveillance or persons under investigation, they would remain under surveillance until such time as their departure was medically approved and permitted by Col. Jeremy Bartel, USAG-KA commander.
“We have community health first and foremost in our hearts,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Kenyatta Gaskins of the effort. “We are definitely planning for the worst, but we are hoping for the best.”
Quarantine Road
The route from the airfield took the visitors from Ocean Road through the sunny back reaches of Old Navy Housing. It’s one of many neighborhoods in which USAG-KA Directorate of Public Works has identified domiciles to serve as quarantine houses, said Gaskins. Four of those units stand ready on Lagoon Road. The rooms are spacious and spare, with minimal furnishings and instruction cards printed in English and Marshallese. The entire delegation fit comfortably—at a distance—inside the living room. A large “comfort package” of basic toiletries and housing items funded with money authorized by USAG-KA Command and Kwajalein’s Army Contracting Officer, rests on each bed.
For Scott Masingill, LOGCAP Quality, Environment, Safety and Health manager, these small details matter. The simple fact of a comfort package toothbrush at the ready means fine details and specific needs are visible in USAG-KA’s big-picture response plans.
“Those [visitors] that would potentially be passing through may or may not have basic amenities for an unanticipated stop,” Masingill said.
During the post-drill briefing, LOGCAP personnel shared QESH-developed quarantine plans that were developed to address and refine the process for everything from meal delivery, to cleaning and waste disposal at quarantine homes, to the decontamination of PUI and PUAS transport vehicles. DI has also incorporated USAG-KA DPW’s quarantine response plan into the overall quarantine plan for the task order to ensure key teammates work off the same “playbook.”
One of these teammates is Vector Control manager Joseph Dacanay, the man in the biohazard suit and the first in the scenario to approach the drill’s PUAS participants and distribute protective gear.
Kwajalein Hospital input has been integral in the quarantine planning process, Masingill said. Following the exercise, delegation members toured the hospital to view its facilities firsthand and to talk with the administrative team.
“We are reviewing all scenarios and are planning ahead,” said Kwajalein Hospital Deputy Administrator Shana Darrah. Ventilators from Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii are now on island. Additional testing equipment will arrive in the future.
“We are working closely with all parties to keep everyone safe,” said Steve Kass, Kwajalein Hospital senior administrator. “We are always practicing an abundance of caution when interacting with anyone from outside the RMI. The science surrounding COVID-19 is changing regularly, and we are in the fortunate position to be able to modify our processes to engage best practices and lessons learned from our colleagues around the world.”
Practice Makes Progress
For Gaskins, the drill scenario leader, successful containment of a COVID-19 event will be the product of months of teamwork and practice with subject matter experts and island personnel.
“We are all in this together,” said Gaskins. “If it gets to one island, it will spread. We have to help protect our neighbors in the RMI.”
Masingill credits USAG-KA Command for uniting the garrison community.
“Command was the driving force behind bringing the community together to look downrange and proactively prepare for the protection of our RMI community, military and civilian contractors,” he said.
Kevin Guidry, Food Service Operations manager, believes that by staying focused on people and safety, it will be possible to overcome the challenges ahead.
“I feel very confident in our ability to handle such a crisis if it should ever arrive,” said Guidry. “The main thing is to take every precaution needed to protect one another if there is a situation.”
The Road Ahead
The threat still seems far away. Coordinated efforts to prevent a major health disaster will aid atoll communities in the event of an outbreak. RMI restrictions on ports and air travel have held fast since early March. To date, there are currently zero known cases of COVID-19 in the RMI.
For now, USAG-KA Command works to prepare for various scenarios and fully expects the unexpected. Gaskins has no illusions about the danger COVID-19 poses to the Marshall Islands.
“It’s not a matter of if COVID-19 arrives,” Gaskins said, “it’s a matter of when. We are preparing for when.”
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2020 18:30 |
| Story ID: | 370265 |
| Location: | MH |
| Web Views: | 423 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Island Teams Conduct COVID-19 Response Drill, by Jessica Dambruch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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