“Walls Do Not a Prison Make…”

“..nor iron bars a cage.”

The bars on the window of the Jail are being removed this week.

For the first time, you can look into the building!

Looking forward to seeing the fence come down, one hopes soon.

Salem Commission On Disabilities June 2009 Unofficial Minutes

The June meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities took place June 16th, 2009 and started on time at 4 PM.  Present:  Jack Harris, Chairman, Commissioners David Martel, Michael Taylor, David Moisan, Andrew J. LaPointe, Charlie Reardon and David Tracht.

Old Business:  Project Lifesaver update. 

Andy led off the meeting by discussing Project Lifesaver, which was recently featured on Salem Now the week before [discussed last month—DM].  Andy gave a brief update:  Capt. John Jodoin, and two officers from the Norfolk Sheriff’s Dept. were on Leo’s show to introduce the program to the viewers of Salem.

Andy:  We’re looking for donations from groups and businesses to sponsor this.  It started in 2008, needing $10,000, but now the equipment is free to the police dept. with only the cost of the bracelets to be paid for;  once $300, now costing $99 plus $30 a month.  It’s Lojack for people.  When someone goes missing, the police go out with their equipment and can find the person in 30 minutes.

We’re one step closer to getting it in Salem.  I have no idea why we don’t already have it.  I understand the city’s trust fund has some money for it, but with the economy, I’m not sure what’s happening.

The Friends of the Council on Aging have $500 from Dominion Energy which we are setting aside for that program, leaving us with $2500 to raise.

Jack:  I think it’s perfect for kids.  You don’t have to go far to read stories about kids missing, whether disabled or not.  And a lot of overprotective parents, which makes it more tense.  If you have a safety net in place to keep these kids from being lost or abducted.

Dave Martel:  There was a case like that in the news recently.

Jack:  That’s why we have safety nets like that;  it’s too bad we have to have them.  My generation had kids in a neighborhood when the neighborhood was looking out for them, but people are transient these days, and the neighbors can be dangerous themselves.

Mike:  It’s for the elderly, too.

Andy:  No criteria for age.  Just disability.  There are more people than we know who have family members at home with Alzheimers or dementia or another disabilities whom they have to look after.  They have to go out.  They can’t stay at home at all times;  they need to be out to shop and run errands and look after themselves.

Mike:  My father had Alzheimer’s and was in a nursing home in Florida.  He had a bracelet.  They found him on a highway.  Very scary.

Andy:  The program is for these people in mind.  I spoke with the lieutenant from North Andover, and they were one of the first communities on the North Shore to have the system.  He contacted me, and he’s trying to get Project Lifesaver regionalized.

If someone goes missing and you don’t know about it for three hours, you don’t know when they left--they could be anywhere!  When you report someone missing, Danvers, for example, will put out a APB and cruisers will look for the signal.

Andy:  The bracelet puts out a unique signal [a code similar to LoJack]  Being a ham radio operator, like Dave (Moisan), we do a thing called foxhunting where we look for hidden transmitters on 2-meter simplex [a mode of radio communications.]  We just sit there and wait and find the signal.  We did this at the Marblehead lighthouse once.  It’s really an amazing thing.  I think the guy who came up with LoJack must be a ham radio operator.

Jack:  How often will the program air?

Dave:  At least twice a week from now til July.

David Tracht:  Is there a phone number viewers can call? 

Andy:  You can contact me (Andy, 978-745-4289) or the Friends of the Council on Aging.   Checks should be made to the Friends of the Council on Aging and addressed to 5 Broad St.

After the program goes into effect, we’re going to start a fund for people unable to afford the costs.  I’ll talk with North Andover again.

David Martel:  Insurance won’t cover it?

Andy:  Insurance may.  Depends on the program.  As you know there are many people with insurance you would think would qualify them, but that it isn’t the case.

Mike Taylor:  It really depends.  If a physician could be involved or not.  Andy, some of the emergency call services waive the registration fee, I’m wondering if Project Lifesaver could do the same.  It could entice people to sign up even if they couldn’t put up the $100 up front.

Andy:  Project Lifesaver initially had a cost for the bracelets, but no monthly fee, but the costs went up.  You can find out more from their website at http://www.projectlifesaver.org/ 

David Martel:  Can the police help us with grant money?

Andy:  I called John Keenan and emailed him all sorts of links from the website.  I haven’t heard from him so far (in three weeks).  I called his assistant Jody at the state house, that was the day before the show. 

David Martel:  You know George McCabe?  He works in Tierney’s office.

Andy:  The reason why we had the show was merely because the media was the best way to get my message out.  Someone’s out there saying, “2500 bucks is cheap to pay for peace of mind!”, I hope.

Back in January, Charlie, and Dave Goggin, came with me to North Andover, and everyone was excited about it.

Andy:  My mother is not one to wander.

Jack:  You never know.

Andy:  I’m disappointed in the Rotary Club.  I wanted to do a presentation for them in Peabody, where we do the training for handicapped parking violations training.  We were going to videotape it.  That didn’t work.

Someone out here will see this, and I hope…

Charlie:  This actually happened in Salem a year ago.  It had a happy ending

David Martel:  A man on Hanson St., a retired college professor, wandered off and was found in the basement of an Essex St.  apartment.

Andy:  If we’d had the system, we would have found him sooner.  Someone with a tracking antenna would have found the signal and gotten out of their car and found him.

Jack:  The Commission can be proud of bringing this to the city’s attention.  We first heard about it at a conference three years ago.  I tell people, as I tell the Commission, things don’t happen overnight.  This program  as close as we can get to being established and the most important

Old Business:  Forest River Conservation Area

Jack:  Old business.  A resident of south Salem who used to be on the Conservation Commission asked us to look at the Forest River conservation area behind South Campus.  The commission asked us to do some evaluations there a few years ago.  The way we left it was that we needed to get the Army Corps of Engineers involved, but then the [Iraq] war broke out.  We had also wanted to get into the Salem Woods and make some trails accessible to people with disabilities.

That individual was very proactive in getting us out to Forest River in the first place.  I’m not sure what his concerns are now.   I’m going to ask the Conservation Commission for additional information, but they probably don’t have info, time or money to do anything.

We can’t and don’t want to put concrete sidewalks on conservation land, but we should see what we can do to make the trails more accessible to people with disabilities

Charlie:  Scott Maguire [former commissioner] was out on his wheelchair on the South River, and we found he could go on gravel, which is a natural surface for its surroundings.

Jack:  We may need to look at that as Salem looks at its recreational areas to see how accessible or inaccessible they are.  We will have ongoing discussions with the Conservation Commission and the Conservation officer.

David Martel:   I heard from someone at the Hawthorne Commons condos next to Hillcrest Chevrolet.  There are no curb cuts between the entrance of the building and the driveway.  He has to go out to the driveway and go back in to get to the parking lot.

Jack:  Call Tom McGrath or Tom St. Pierre and let them know.

David Martel:  He’s asked me and wondered the correct avenue to resolve this;  I asked him to be here today.

Andy:  I was involved in a condo issue near Traders Way and we had a meeting with some people from the condo association.  We pointed out the situation and got the problem resolved.

Andy:  Getting back to the trails near South Campus, if I’m not mistaken, there’s crushed stone, which doesn’t work too well for wheelchairs.

Jack:  That may be, but no one is coming to us telling me what we should use.

David Martel:  We put peastone, in the case I was involved with;  the area was very rustic.  Charlie:  peastone is loose, but gravel is packed down tightly.

Jack:  That’s an issue we’ll continue to keep an eye on but I wanted people to know of this. 

David Martel:  It’s a rustic woodsy trail with not much use.  Perhaps if it were accessible, there’d be more use.

Old Business:  MAAB Update, “Sober House”

Jack:  As some of you remember, on Salem St. in the Point, a  gentleman was trying to build a “sober house” because he felt the need for it.   Problem was, it was supposed to be made accessible by code but was not, so the city took him to court.  The MAAB wrote a letter to the court explaining why it needed to be accessible.  The court ruled in favor of the city.

In the meantime, the owner was arrested for fraud amongst other things, serving at least six months for probation violation with other charges pending.

I got in the mail a request for a variance for that building.  His name was on it, but another person was listed.  I understand the owner could not be involved in the project.  The variance is for vertical accessibility and bathroom accessibility.  I’m in touch with Tom Hopkins at the AAB and Tom McGrath and Tom St. Pierre at the city.  

David Martel:  We only know what we see in the papers.  They were cited for lack of sprinkers too.

Jack:  I want a meeting [with Tom, Tom and Tom].  That’s not to say the variance may not be reasonable but with the background of this property we need to see this as clearly as we can.  I’ll let people know when this meeting happens.  Tom McGrath has sent a letter to the AAB with his concerns and the AAB has seen the variance request and we want them to wait until we have our meeting.

Old Business:  MAAB, Witch House

Jack:  The other MAAB matter, as people are aware, there was a variance request for the Witch House which was accepted in full so the project will continue forward.

Old Business:  MAAB, Bypass Road Bike Path

Jack:  One last bit of MAAB business is the bike path on the bypass road.  I got some confusing updates on that, but it is being attended to and hasn’t been forgotten.  I remind the city not to sign anything until it has been resolved since it may cost money (in fines) and looks like it may.  An ongoing issue as we speak.

Old Business:  Ginny Morse, Disabilities Policy Consortium

Andy:  Ginny Morse sent me a DVD that the Mass. Office on Disabilities did with her office on sensitivity training, at their office on Ashburton Place.  I want to make copies for the Commission. Dave Moisan, can you make copies.  Dave Moisan:   You have permission from them?  Andy:  Yes.  The reason I requested a copy was, we do sensitivity training but I want to see what they do.  It could be a perfect complement.  How many copies?

Jack:  9 members, plus Jean L. plus Mike Sosnowski.

Andy:  And also for Mike Taylor.

Jack:  To add on to that, that particular meeting was for emergency preparedness.  There was a piece in the Globe about the fact that the federal government is not on top of having supplies to deal with the flu epidemic right now.  I thought, “here’s why it’s important we think about and look at Salem because we can’t save everyone else, but if Salem has a good emergency plan, we can get through.”  I hope the state and federal governments follow through, but if the reports are true, everyone needs to get on the stick and nobody is.

New Business:  “Tavern on the Square”

There’s a new restaurant in Salem at the corner of New Derby and Washington.  I’ve heard from several people that the steps into the new restaurant are hard to see and not delineated by visible striping for people with visual impairments.

The other thing you may have been following in the papers:  The Salem Mission has done two things;  they have closed their food pantry, merging it with St. Joseph’s [situated at the Immaculate Conception on Hawthorne Blvd.].  And, the Mission wants to establish a small medical clinic in the space where the food pantry was.  I’m not sure what the guidelines and regulations are, but we would like to get up to speed.  They also, depending on another issue, want to convert the church itself to housing.  If that happens, that will tip the 30% and they will need to bring it up to accessibility.

[Note: Under current regulations, if a building is renovated and the costs of the renovation are 30% of the value of the property or more, the property must be made accessible by current codes and standards.—DM]

Jack:  Mike, with your background, you could help us figure out what’s going on.  The housing situation balances on what happens to the art group that’s using the building and wants to renovate the whole building into an arts building.  The 30% wasn’t a issue for the arts group because they didn’t make that many changes to the building when they used it.  If the project goes forward, they will trip the 30%.

The Commission has been involved with the Mission in the past;  when they established the homeless shelter, we were very involved with them on the renovation.  There’s a lift in there, and some other things that were done.  We have established ourselves, but as always in any community, we need to keep an eye out for them.

New Business:  North St. 

Charlie:  I was approached about a handicapped sign on North St.  Someone was ticketed at a sign, but the sign was old and not valid.

Jack:  Supposedly, there’s supposed to be a review of all handicapped signs in the city once a year.  Invalid signs that are no longer needed are to be removed.

New Business:  GPS Demonstration

David Moisan:  Andy, I’d like it if you could demonstrate your new GPS unit for the Commission.  It would be good for us, but I would also put the footage on YouTube.  I had wanted us to do that but there haven’t been many opportunities—the last time I got to do that was with Charlie and Jack on the new voting machines last November.

Jack:  We have a guest coming in to discuss his agency that helps disabled people over 22 get health care and residential care when they can’t look after themselves.  It’s an area we don’t hear about publicly, but I hear about this very very often.  After 22 and under 60, it is very hard for people with disabilities.

Andy:  Milt [the person from the Conversation Commission] wanted to come this month but I suggested next month.  Jack:  I’ll talk to him and have him come in only if there’s something going on;  I won’t have him come in if we can’t do anything for him.

David Martel:  Entrance at Loring Ave.?  Andy:  It’s behind Harrison Rd. and South Campus.

Jack:  I want to do anything we can in that area but it takes time.  If we can’t do anything, it makes no sense to have him come.  David Martel:  It is a protected area and there are a lot of wetlands and lots of trails without rails.   Jack:  There are other groups that have worked on the area from time to time.  It’s a matter of money, time and resources.  If we can find out that out I can certainly get the information out to Andy and thus to Milt.  We do want to make it accessible as possible but we can only work with what we can work with.

David Martel:  What about the playground at the Common?

Jack:  No official word.  The city has promised them some money.  They’re a long way off on their target of $250,000.  But they’re still working on fundraising so far as we know.

The meeting adjourned around 5 PM.  Next meeting is July 21st, 4:00 PM, Salem Access Television.

MBTA schedule changes for routes 450, 456 and 455

The MBTA has announced schedule changes for Salem bus routes effective Monday. These changes were first put forth by the MBTA last winter and they affect route 450 and 456 significantly during the weekdays.

Route 456: This route will now run every 80 minutes (1 hour and 20 minutes) instead of every 60 minutes. Buses leave Salem at 9:40 AM, 11:00 AM, and every hour and 20 minutes until the last bus for Lynn at 4:20 PM.

From Central Square, the first 456 leaves West Lynn at 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM (rush-hour service), and starts its regular service at 9:00 AM, 10:20 AM and every 80 minutes until the last bus for Salem at 3:35 PM.

Route 450: Weekday service outside rush hour (9 AM to 4 PM) runs to and from Haymarket at 60 to 80 minute intervals, leaving Salem at 9:10 AM, 10:20 AM, 11:40 AM, 1:00 PM, 2:20 PM and 3:40 PM. Buses from Haymarket run at 9:10 AM, 10:20 AM, 12:00 Noon, 1:00 PM, 2:20 PM and 3:10 PM.

Route 455: Quoting the T:

The 5:19 AM outbound trip leaving West Lynn for Salem Depot will now leave at 5:16 AM.
A new trip will leave Salem Depot for West Lynn on Route 455 at 7:00 PM.

No changes to weekend service on the 450 and 455 (456 is a weekday-only route.)

The biggest changes are to the 456, a route I take most often. The T cites congestion on Western Ave. and 107. It’s true that over the past 20 years, Rt. 107 between Salem and Lynn has gotten more and more congested—the recession hasn’t changed it a bit! When the T cites “schedule adjustments”, they’re really saying they can’t keep to the schedule, or more importantly, they can’t afford to run extra buses to maintain it.

The 456 in particular gets quite a lot of use by Lynn residents who shop on Highland Ave. and use North Shore Medical Center.

As I write this the T is contemplating a 20% fare hike and service cutbacks. There’s been no news at all, despite the much heralded transportation bill before the Governor.

MBTA bus schedules are revised every quarter; the next revision will be in September. If the ax falls on MBTA service in Salem, it’ll happen in December, the next quarter after that. I’ll be watching.

Salem Jail Renovation

Despite the fears of some that the Jail project was stalled, the renovations are moving apace.  The old concrete stairwells in the main building have been demolished.

The building is being cleaned:

It already looks better!

SATV now over fiber!

 

Yesterday, the Comcast techs finished their work.  Our three channels are now being broadcast over fiber.  It's more like 2005-era technology instead of the very latest but we're not complaining, it was the best we could get.  We have fiber links from City Hall, Salem High School, the School Committee room at the Collins, and Bowditch Middle School.  Our old coax net also went to the Hawthorne Hotel, Salem State College and several other places but we weren't able to get Comcast to recable those.

 

Last summer, the city council held a hearing on the poor quality of the video feeds from the School Committee in particular.   The spring before, they had installed a "new" modulator at our facility.  "New" is in quotes for a reason.  The techs didn't have a manual for the equipment and Sal asked me to find it online;  I'm always being asked to do that since I keep track of all our manuals on our Sharepoint site.

 

I found the manual on the Motorola site and learned that the equipment, new to us, was old to Motorola--it was end-of-lifed!  It could have caught fire tomorrow and Moto wouldn't have fixed it.

 

The council, and us at SATV who were present, gave the Comcast business rep a prolonged ass-chewing.

 

A year later, we have our fiber.  I wish our WAN and phones were fiber, too, but that's another day.

 

For now, my friend Leo Jodoin will be very happy!

[Cross posted to David Moisan's Blog.]

Salem Commission on Disabilities May 2009 Unofficial Minutes

The regular meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities took place May 19th, 2009 at 4 PM at Salem Access Television.  Present were Andrew J. LaPointe (presiding), Ginny Morse and Robin Powell, Disability Policy Consortium,  Debra Lobsitz, Charlie Reardon, and David Tracht, commissioners, Janet Mancini, Salem health agent,  [inaudible], program coordinator for the Cape Ann Emergency Preparedness Coalition, [inaudible],  David Martel, commissioner, Lisa Cammarata, ADA Coordinator and ex officio member of the Commission, Dennis LeVasseur, Salem Fire Department and Deputy Director of Emergency Management, Capt. John Jodoin, Salem Police Department.   David Moisan, commissioner, is behind the camera today.

Today’s meeting features Ginny Morse of the Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) and is devoted to emergency preparedness.

Ms. Morse, DPC:  The DPC is a cross-disability organization that is dedicated to independent living for people with disabilities across every community in the state.  We are the only cross-disability organization in the state.  We’ve been noting that communities across the state have not been including people with disabilities in their disaster planning.  Where will people go in an emergency and who will take them.   A question for the board:  What is the most recent disaster that’s happened in the community?

Mr. LeVasseur:   Several years ago, an ink factory in Danvers blew up and destroyed the Danversport neighborhood [just north of North Salem.]  Nearby, the New England School for the Deaf had to be evacuated on short notice without any prior planning.  But through mutual aid, the school was successfully evacuated.  Danvers itself was overwhelmed by the emergency and relied on Salem and Peabody fire and police departments to handle the situation.

Capt. Jodoin:  Most disasters are storm-related.  We try to help people be prepared for the first few hours of any emergency when officials are still responding.

Andy:  There was a large fire in Peabody (that destroyed an apartment complex.)  What did people do to help?

Ms. Mancini:  I worked with the Peabody health agent and the college to set up temporary shelter at the O’Keefe Center.

Andy:  Any disabled people?

Ms. Mancini:  Not any that I know of, though the residents were very emotionally shaken.

Ms. Morse, DPC:  We focus on individual preparation as well, to help disabled look after themselves.  We stress preparation before anything happens.  Look after medications, food and especially pets and service dogs.  Watch over your neighbors.  Think of the people that assist you, like PCA’s.  Start a network and make sure everyone in your network has your information.

Disasters can happen at home, at work or anywhere.  Do you have a plan for each situation?  Do you have an out-of-town contact?  Plans for evacuation?  Discuss it with your PCA is you have one—if they live too far away they may not be able to help.

Work with local Independent Living Centers.  Emergency preparedness should be incorporated in your daily life.

Before you need to evacuatte, get our list of shelters is on the Disability Policy Consortium’s web site, http://www.dpcma.org/.  We had to bring a lawsuit against MEMA and the Red Cross for not making sure their shelters are accessible to disabilities.  Who in Salem is responsible for shelters?

Capt. Jodoin:  That’s up to me and the Fire Department.

Ms. Morse, DPC:  Disabled people need to find out where their shelters would be.  They need to know beforehand what access problems there might be, for example, what are the sidewalks like to the shelter?  Is it too far to walk?  Public transportation?

Capt. Jodoin:  Handicapped access and transportation is set up, through the ambulance companies and the Council on Aging.  This very much depends on the particular disaster.

Ms. Morse:  How does Salem notify residents of an emergency?

Mr. LeVasseur:  We have our police channel that’s broadcast over SATV, and we recently added a reverse-911 telephone notification system.  It works very well and all city departments use it.  SATV will broadcast the same information.

David Tracht:  If communications go down?

Mr. LeVasseur:  We have generators and can back up with the Salem Police if necessary.   If 911 isn’t answered in Salem, it’ll go to Peabody,  if not there, then somewhere else.  It’s all automatic.

Capt. Jodoin:  We can go around with a cruiser and a bullhorn.

David Tracht:  Who are the most severely disabled people in Salem?  Do officials know about them?  They could be housebound, or single, and not known.

Capt. Jodoin:  We strongly encourage residents to register a “disability indicator” with Salem Police;  that will let 911 operators know of people with disabilities.

Andy:  The commission needs to promote the disability indicator awareness form and everyone with disabilities need to apply now.  I’ve gotten packets of application forms from Capt. Jodoin and want Lisa [Cammaratta] and Janet [Mancini] to take these forms and distribute them at City Hall, the Board of Health and elsewhere.

Capt. Jodoin:  The form’s also online from http://mass.gov/.  The form might be different from the one we use since it’s a state form. 

Janet M.:  Forms already available from the Health Dept.

Ms. Morse:  Are the forms at other local disability organizations? 

Capt. Jodoin:  It’s distributed to the Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann.  It’s probably time for us to do another certification and get the forms out.

Andy:  Many don’t have computer access.  The library has a computer with JAWS [screen reader] and magnification.

David Martel:  Remember self-preparedness—and let people know you need help.

Charlie:  Many don’t want to disclose their disabilities

Capt. Jodoin:  That information is completely confidential and only used within the Police Dept.  It’s just used to prepare responders so they can assist appropriately.

Andy:  Thing to remember, is that in times of great stress, like a disaster or an emergency involving your loved one, you don’t really know how you’d react.  At least you can call 911 and they know what they’re dealing with.

Morse:  We encourage you to talk with disabled people who may be in shelter, so they can let you know of any access problems they may have, like bathrooms and hearing and sight-related problems.

Also, Salem’s call-back system can also send emails and pages, and that is a very useful thing for people with disabilities.

Charlie:  An elderly person should be able to put on the form that they speak French, Italian, Greek or Spanish.  There is a large Spanish-speaking community in Salem.

Capt. Jodoin:  Our 911 system is completely ADA-qualified and we can get a translation service on the line immediately.

Charlie:  Andy’s been pushing communications for years;  Andy (and David Moisan) are ham radio operators that can communicate with people in the city, or outside the city or even around the country just by using their radio equipment.

Lisa Cammaratta:  There are volunteer translators available, too.

Morse:  Back to shelters.  Service animals are allowed in shelter.  Make sure you have everything needed for your service animals.

Charlie:  We need a list of things one can do right now to prepare.

Morse:  There’s a worksheet on our website, http://www.dpcma.org/.  It takes you through all the information you need to have before a disaster, like shelter locations, supplies, food and etcetera.  Steps are broken down so it doesn’t overwhelm anything.

People should get and have a month’s supply of meds.  Insurance restrictions make this very difficult if not impossible for most people.

Powell:  DPC has proposed several state bills on emergency preparedness.  S.B. 812, sponsored by Sen. Susan Fargo, would make prescription medication readily available when a state of emergency is declared by the Governor, in case medications are lost or destroyed or pharmacies are unable to open.  We realize people can’t stockpile meds, so we are working on a statewide plan;  the Department of Health would set up a safety-net plan and a phone number for people to get or replace meds if there is a state of emergency.   A hearing date is set for June 9th at the State House

The other bill we are sponsoring is S.B. 961, by Sen. Joan Menard.  This would require that all high-rise residential housing, commercial or non-commercial, that is taller than the fire department’s tallest ladders, have evacuation chairs for the disabled at every stairwell.  No hearing has been set for this.

David Martel:  Type of chair?  Number of chairs?

Powell:  Cities and towns would set the requirements.  The state building One Ashburton Place has these chairs.

Andy:  Ashburton Place has good plans in place;  they are the home of many disability-related agencies such as the MOD.

The Commission has done sensitivity training in the past with the House of Seven Gables.  I would like us to do this training with the Police and Fire Depts. on the proper etiquette for dealing with the blind, hard of hearing or those with mobility impairments.  The Commission is very well connected with the community and would gladly do this training.

Charlie [to LeVasseur:]  If you had to evacuate a tall building, do you have a chair on the ladder?

LeVasseur:  No, there are refuge areas in the stairwells and we would evacuate people from there.

Morse:  Our website has many different contact and information forms for people with disabilities to use.

Capt. Jodoin:  We provide similar information to the elderly of the Salem Council on Aging.

Andy:  We can put the information on a memory stick [USB thumb drives].

Morse:  Everyone needs to get birth certificates and other vital documents on hand.  Take videos of your belongings and keep the videos on a CD or memory stick.  Don’t forget medication lists.

Also, designate a health care proxy who can act for you if you’re incapacitated. 

Here is a crank flashlight [shows a flashlight] for use in power failures.  And an emergency crank radio.

The radios pick up AM, FM and Weather band.  And also TV [not after over-the-air TV goes digital June 12th.  All “TV Audio” radios will stop working—DCM].

David Martel:  A gas crew was working outside my house.  I took pictures of everything and put the pictures and documents in my freezer in case the gas crew blew up my house.

Morse:  Good idea!

Capt. Jodoin:  98% of the population thinks, “It won’t happen to me!”

LeVasseur:  How does the Commission get the information out to the disabled community?

Charlie:  People watch our monthly meetings.  The Commission for the Blind has a register, and sends out large-type notices to mail out, for example. 

Debra:  The Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing doesn’t have a register.  There is much reluctance and controversy amongst the deaf and hard of hearing community about identifying themselves as hearing-impaired.

Andy:  There’s also the Talking Information Center, http://www.ticnetwork.com/   that broadcasts over the web.  The blind and print disabled can get special receivers.  The commission tries to bring up these issues at the meetings. 

The reverse 911 system is an excellent way to alert the disabled community in Salem.

Capt. Jodoin:  Good idea.  We can think about this.

David Tracht:  The Mass Rehabilitation Commission doesn’t have a registry either.  Privacy issues are a concern.

Andy:  This is frustrating and counterproductive.

Capt. Jodoin:  We tell people if they want us to help, they have to let us know who they are and what they need.

David Martel:  Why not use the blue snow emergency lights to indicate other emergencies?

Capt. Jodoin: I agree, but it’s just an adjunct and an alerting method for SATV and reverse 911.

Andy:  Salem has done wonders with that alerting system.  Ellen Talkowski has worked hard to make that system work.  We need to work with police or fire to come up with a plan to call people with disabilities.

David Martel:  This meeting is widely watched in Salem.  I’m constantly being asked about our agenda.  We have put things on TV, like the dollar-bill identifier, that people have learned about from us.

Morse:  Is it possible to do this through the YMCA?

David Martel:  The Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann regularly holds emergency preparedness sessions.

Andy:  Janet, can you give me your insight about the Commission and the Board of Health working together.

Janet:  It’s a great plan.  We’ll have to continue to work together.  We want to be involved with the reverse-911 system.  Equipment ideas, like flashlights and radios can go in the plan, for us to have on hand in shelters and so forth.  What ideas does the Commission on Disabilities have?

David Martel:  Make a rough template 

Lisa Cammaratta:  How do we get the information out to people not as technologically adept?  What about the swine flu?

Capt. Jodoin:  We have public safety events and newsletters.  We have drills.

Janet Mancini:  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has done a lot to keep us informed.

Charlie:  I can barely spell “computer”.  The information should be available in printed form, like the Council on Aging newsletter and up at the Senior Center.  If seniors learn of something, they’ll be on the phone with their cronies in minutes.

LeVasseur:  Is there a large portion of the disabled who live in public housing?

Andy:  Carol McGowan [executive director, Salem Housing Authority] would know.  We’re not sure. 

Capt. Jodoin:  We hold meetings at public housing complexes across the city and are well familiar with that community.

Andy:  I wanted the Commission on Disabilities office to be at the Council on Aging when Linda Elworth was director.  We have a natural alliance.

Charlie:  Andy’s been trying to put together a plan for the City to provide locator bracelets to people with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive impairments.

Capt. Jodoin:  They’re similar to confinement bracelets for parole violators but for a different purpose.  LoJack for people.

Andy:  I’ll be on Salem Now, June 9th, 6 to 6:30 PM on Channel 3.  Capt. Jodoin and someone from Project Lifesaver will be there to discuss the program.

It’s very similar to ham radio or CB.  It’s a nationwide program;  the success rate has been 100% and people are located in 30 minutes.  North Andover has the program.  They asked us if we could get it in Salem and other neighboring communities.

If your loved one has been missing without your being aware of it for 4 hours, they could be anywhere.  The bracelet’s cheaper than having many cruisers, officers and helicopters on patrol.

Example:  A gentleman of ours has two severely disabled children;  one went missing.  Fortunately, she was found nearby unharmed.  The bracelet would be excellent for these situations.

Can we get copies of the Salem Now video?

David Moisan:  Yes, that should be possible.

Andy:  Please tune in, watch and ask questions.  There’s a website, http://www.projectlifesafer.org/   Jane, what’s your website?

Jane Morse:  http://www.dcpma.org/  My phone number is (617)-283-2107.  We encourage all people and organizations to get involved.  This is a collaborative effort.  Thanks for your time.

Charlie:  When do these disability indicator forms get processed?

Capt. Jodoin:  Within 24 hours.  As soon as I verify it’s a Salem number, it’s in the system ASAP.

Andy:  There are 8000 people with disabilities in Salem.  You’re not doing yourselves a favor if you don’t submit a form.

David Tracht:  We should bring this up every month, two minutes a month.

Andy:  Done.  Janet, we can be a part of your planning team?

Janet:  Yes.

Andy:  Thank you very much for coming!

Meeting was adjourned at 5:35 PM.  Next meeting is on June 16th, 2009, 4 PM at Salem Access Television, 285 Derby St.

[Note:  The Cape Ann Emergency Preparedness Coalition can be found at http://nscalert.org/]

Salem Commission on Disabilities: Disaster Preparedness

Passing this along from Andy:

Hello Commissioners, as I wrote to you this morning, the Salem Board of Health is concerned about the ability of Salem handling the disabled community in the event of an emergency. At this point, the Board is concerned about the flu that is spreading around the United States. I have a call for Janet Mancini, the acting Director of the Board of Health to set up a meeting on this topic. I am planning to invite Janet Mancini as a guest to our next Commission meeting to discuss this. It is extremely important for the Commission to bring any information possible that will help prepare Salem's disabled population for the event of an emergency, not to mention the flu virus.

Also, I have invited one of the spokes peopl of the Disabled Policy Consortium of Mass to bring their wisdom to this topic. I have listened to a sound clip of a presentation, and I believe that those who will listen or, watch SATV's taping of the Commission's May meeting will harvest some outstanding information.

 

Although the fears over swine flu have subsided, this is always a topical subject as we enter the hurricane season in two weeks.

The Salem Commission on Disabilities meets monthly on the third Tuesday of every month, except August, at 4 PM at Salem Access Television, 285 Derby St., Salem.

This month’s meeting is tomorrow, May 19th.