HomeMy WebLinkAbout20200915_J Armstrong_WILDFIRES response from W BenceFrom:Willie Bence
To:Jane Lohry Armstrong; Board of Health
Subject:RE: N95 masks and essential farm work force
Date:Tuesday, September 15, 2020 2:40:35 PM
Hello Jane,
Thanks for reaching out and for your concern for our essential agricultural workers.
Unfortunately, we are restricted in who we can provide PPE to utilizing federal and state emergency funding. The
State Department of Health has issued a tier list that dictates who receives the highest priority for PPE and other
equipment, and it focuses heavily on those who come into direct contact with COVID19 suspected or confirmed
patients, including healthcare workers, law enforcement, emergency medical services, some long-term care
facilities, etc. Unfortunately, the agricultural sector, despite their status as essential, are not covered.
We did get a special waiver to distribute N95s to the homeless community given their inability to shelter-in-place
away from the smoke, but right now I do not believe they are considering any other special waivers for other
entities. N95s still do remain highly scarce, and are still in high-demand in the healthcare and other sectors.
It is recommended those who do need to work outside take frequent breaks, drink water, and a wet bandana around
the nose and mouth can assist with the dryness, although those do not act as a great filter. The good news is that the
air quality look to be improving come Thursday, which will be a welcome break from these conditions.
Willie Bence
Director - Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management
Cell: (360) 316-6008
Desk: (360) 344-9729
www.jeffcoeoc.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Lohry Armstrong <seepuget@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 12:31 PM
To: Board of Health <boh@co.jefferson.wa.us>; Willie Bence <WBence@co.jefferson.wa.us>
Subject: N95 masks and essential farm work force
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or
clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
First, thank you to the county commissioners for raising the question of shelters with clean indoor air for unsheltered
people in our county. I was glad to hear that the department of emergency management was making N95 masks
available through some outlets locally.
I would like to ask the county to do the same thing with our essential farmworkers. I have seen postings and emails
that our local farms cannot harvest right now because of the local conditions..
There are no local n95 masks to buy that I am aware of and on line sources restrict purchases for many to medical
essential employers. I have tried. None can ship to arrive now.
please consider making these available to our county farm employers. Now. They are a part of our resilience and our
economy and our community.
They need us now. And we need to modify our plans to be more responsive in the future. Thank you
Jane Armstrong
Sent from my iPhone