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Community Matters

This summer has been like no other. Most of us are not seeing our summer friends and many of us are not even seeing our year-round island friends and family. Anyone taking the ferry or visiting the market has seen numerous changes in place to protect our residents and visitors. All the organizations on the island are dealing with the stress of COVID-19. With that in mind, this month we would like to shine the light onour FireDepartment and EMS crews. Currently with a roster of eight EMTs and 25 firefighters, they are on call 24 hours a day and 365 days of the year protecting us. Since thearrival ofCOVID-19 inMarch, safetyprotocols are constantly being updated, sometimes daily. This requires the team to attend numerous additional hours of trainings and meetings on how to protect all of us and themselves. The calls which sometimes arrive in the middle of the night or early morning are exhausting by themselves, but now require several additional steps for the crew. They now must wear the minimum PPE to each call: gloves, eye protection and an N95 mask. If the person they’re called on to help shows any sign of being COVID positive they have to break into teams with one group donning something similar to a HAZMAT suit and the other group staying back to remain uncontaminated in

order to help them on the other side of the call when they return back to the station. Back at the station, after the call, there is a lengthy decontamination process involving the crew having to privately strip down outside and bag their “dirty” clothes which are laundered on site. Then they must shower and have a new set of clothes ready to put on after. But before they can head home the boat and vehicles must now be decontaminated which is a lengthy process involving spraying a bleach solution among other steps. All this additional work is compounded by the fact that most of these folks have children and family at home that may become sick if a step is missed or PPE fails to protect. The emotional stress on the First Responders is accompanied by the fact that each call now requires double the time it used to. In the cold dark hours of the night, the job is an exhausting one. These are unprecedented times, no doubt; but along with adversity comes resilience, kindness, and community. Here on Chebeague, these amazing First Responders are there for us in our darkest hours with skill, compassion and a strength of heart and mind that should never be taken for granted. We send our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the members of the Fire Department and EMS crew; our neighbors and friends who keep us safe throughout the year. The Chebeague Island Council is happy to announce that Dr. Heidi Larson will soon be coming to the Wellness Center. Dr. Larson is a Family Medicine specialist. She is expanding her practice to include Chebeague Island and will see patients both at the Wellness

Notes From The Council

Due to the ongoing COVID prohibitions of meetings over 50, the Island Council August Annual meeting has been postponed until 2021. Membership in the council will continue for another year. The board and officers will be continued as well. If you have any questions please feel free to contact board members. Any and all donations to the Island Council Samaritan or fuel funds will be gratefully put to good use. Thank you.

Center and at their home. This is an exciting new resource for the Island Community! Please contact the Council for additional information.

Christine Auffant, Sec. Lola Armstrong, treas Kristen Buxbaum Deb Hall Sarah Hopkins

Denise Hamilton Ester Knight Marjorie Stratton, vp. Ann Thaxter, pres.

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AUGUST 2020 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR