March 30, 2020 – SALEM, Ore.— Andrew Phelps, Director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM), gave his first status update from the Joint Information Center about the state’s response to COVID-19. Following the directive of Governor Kate Brown, OEM has activated Oregon’s Unified Command structure, the state’s incident command emergency response organizational structure, similar to the response structure that would be activated during a major Cascadia earthquake. Director Phelps will hold regular press conferences to update the media and the public. While all emergencies begin and end at the local level, the spread of COVID-19 has outpaced the personnel, capacity, and resources of local communities in Oregon. “In these unusual and dire circumstances,” said Director Phelps, “The ECC is charged with coordinating collective efforts at a statewide level to stem the outbreak of COVID-19 throughout Oregon, working as one team, with one voice, to serve every single Oregonian.” Director Phelps is coordinating the state’s response to COVID-19 from the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) in Salem, in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority in that agency’s efforts to coordinate the public health response to COVID-19. Under OEM there are 18 emergency support functions. These functions describe how Oregon’s 33 state agencies will provide and coordinate necessary resources during an emergency. A key example of how this larger structure works is the assembly and dissemination of personal protective equipment, or PPE. PPE includes items like gowns, masks and gloves that healthcare workers use frequently to protect themselves and their patients. The ECC’s PPE distribution center in Wilsonville is now fully operational. From this location, ECC staff will proactively send PPE out to county emergency managers, tribes and the state. “COVID-19 affects everyone in Oregon – all 36 counties, all nine tribes,” said Director Phelps. “As we continue to fight the spread of this virus, I want to thank everyone for what they are doing to help flatten the curve, especially our first responders and front line workers. And I’d like to remind Oregonians that the best way they can help is to stay home to save lives.” Updated information on the State’s response to COVID-19 will be available at https://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19. Director Phelps’ daily briefings can be viewed https://oregon-coronavirus-geo.hub.arcgis.com/. (When it has been uploaded)
