Markeshia RIcks Photo
A malfunction at the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant released radioactive material into the environment and “evacuee” Michelle Duprey was contaminated.
Duprey (at left in photo) needed to get through a decontamination process with a wheelchair. Then she needed accessible transportation and shelter until the crisis passed.
She also needed help getting access to her medication.
Capt. Frank Ricci gathers information from “evacuee” Joseph Albanese.
Figuring out how to best help Duprey, and other “evacuees” of the simulated disaster was the task of firefighters, emergency medical responders and volunteers participating in a disaster preparedness drill held on Southern Connecticut State University’s campus Thursday.
Duprey was not a typical evacuee, and not just because she uses a motorized wheelchair to get around. She’s the director of New Haven’s Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities. Her sharp eyes and questions kept drill participants on their toes.
“I’m the little pester person,” she said. “I ask questions here, so others will ask these questions as they’re planning. In reality, I can’t be the only person thinking about accessibility. Everyone has to be thinking about it.”
Assistant Fire Chief of Operations Matt Marcarelli (pictured) said the disaster drill involving the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant is run every four years to make certain that the communities closest to the plant and those who would be called on to respond to an emergency know what to do and when to do it.
New Haven Emergency Operations Center Director Rick Fontana (pictured) said communities that would be most impacted — like Lyme, Old Lyme and East Lyme — are provided information and a plan in case of an emergency at the plant so that they know “what to do, where to go.”
Evaluators from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also were present Thursday to make sure that everyone involved was following procedures and guidelines for disaster response.
“We prepare for the worst, but hope for the best,” Macarelli said. Preparing for the worst means being able to respond to the various needs that my be present should a life threatening incident with the power plant occur.
Duprey came through the big aqua decontamination tent, staged in the parking lot of the James Moore Field House on Wintergreen Avenue, where the drill was held, with few problems.
“It was a little warm, but good for them to practice working with someone who uses a wheelchair.”
Post decontamination, Duprey went through the process of receiving potassium iodide pills, which are given to people possibly exposed to radioactive material to help protect the thyroid gland. For the purpose of the drill, the “pills” were two bite-sized KitKat bars, one white chocolate, the other milk chocolate.
Next Duprey tried to register with the American Red Cross to be connected with a shelter. “It probably will be hard to find accessible shelter,” she mused as she waited. “They would have a big challenge with people with sensory disabilities in an actual emergency.”
Duprey said those planning the response would need to think through how they would assist someone who might be blind or can’t hear. She said technology can help, noting that New Haven is looking to provide remote video access to sign language interpreters during emergencies.
“There are very few sign language interpreters in Connecticut,” Duprey said. “In an emergency, it could be very hard to get one.”
While she waited for assistance on the shelter front, registered nurse Stephanie Johnson (pictured at left) stepped up Thursday to help Duprey tackle the issue with the medication. “How long has it been since you last took your medication,” she asked.
“Yesterday,” Duprey replied. Was there a particular pharmacy where Duprey gets her medications? The Red Cross can help people get an emergency supply of medication from local pharmacies during a disaster, Johnson said.
“The city of New Haven makes us get our medications through Express Scripts, a mail order service,” Duprey said. Johnson was momentarily stumped. What do you do when a person gets their medications by mail?
Luckily, Duprey has an app on her phone for Express Scripts. It also contains a handy list of the medications she takes. Johnson said once Duprey signed a consent form she would contact Express Scripts, and give them the incident number for the “disaster” so that she could get an emergency supply of medication.
“That was a really good question for us to tackle, ” Johnson said.
Finding shelter was proving a little more troublesome. Volunteers weren’t clear on what shelter they would send Duprey and if it was wheelchair accessible. Once they got it straightened out, they prepared to send Duprey on her way.
But Duprey had one more question: “Is the shuttle to the shelter wheelchair accessible?”
John Jensen (pictured in the photo at left) of the Red Cross, who was managing the “safe and well” station, didn’t know, but went off to find a solution. One volunteer said she assumed that the shuttle would be wheelchair accessible, but Duprey said she never assumes anything when it comes to accessibility.
“My experience is that there is rarely accessibility,” she said. “The reality is that in a disaster situation, on average three to five percent of the people who need help will have mobility problems.”
Transportation help came in the form of an emergency medical technician. “I’m going to transport you to the shelter,” he said. “Is that OK with you?”
“Sure,” she said. “But it would be a lot cheaper if you just called a taxi. AMR will probably charge between $600 and $700.”
All the officials, including the federal ones, agreed that while that might be true, all the responding agencies would be reimbursed through the federal government for any costs incurred.
But Duprey, who was generally complimentary of the disaster drill experience, was not fully convinced that the taxi wouldn’t be a better and more cost efficient option for transporting someone using a wheelchair.
“I’m trying to save money,” she said. “I’m still not sure I want my tax dollars paying for that.”
