City of Sedona prepares for pandemic

Confidential plan approved

By Tommy Acosta

SEDONA, AZ (Sept 26, 2009) - Sedona City Council members voted unanimously at its Sept 22 council meeting to approve a confidential plan on how to deal with a Swine Flu pandemic should one occur in Sedona.

No details on the pandemic plan, which now becomes a part of the city’s Disaster Response Plan, were revealed at the meeting.

According to city staff, The Disaster Response Plan is an emergency management document used as a guide during different stages of emergency management.

The plan is broken down into sections called annexes covering emergencies such as flood, fire and evacuations.

The Annex for Pandemics has been added to the Disaster Response and was presented by staff to the council as a confidential document because of the sensitive information it reportedly contains. 

At the meeting, there were three citizens (two representing the media) present in the council chambers when the resolution was passed.

A media representative asked the council to be as forthcoming as it could in alerting the public as to what the Annex for Pandemics contains and how it will affect the populace should a pandemic occur.

City of Sedona Manager Tim Ernster said staff wants to keep it confidential.

“The city’s pandemic flu policy is something we would like to keep confidential,” he said. “Because it has information on it on how the city would respond, that is why we want to keep it private.”

City Attorney Mike Goimarac said specific contents of the plan needed to be kept confidential to prevent it from being compromised by those that might seek to sabotage the city’s effort to contain a pandemic.

He also said he would honor a Public Records request but the information released would have to be balanced between the public’s right to know and the safety of the citizens.

“It is generally presumed that all public documents are disclosable,” he said. “We have to have a balance because our disaster plan is not a public document. There are things in there if anyone wants to thwart our response that they can use it. If we get a public records request I am not sure if there is a lot of things in there that are highly sensitive. We will honor a public records request and it will be balanced.”

Sedona.biz made a Public Records Request through the Freedom of Information Act to the city’s attorney.

The request was honored quickly and openly by the city, and you can view the document by clicking here.

According to City Council Mike Goimarac  “We are working on your request.  Because our Plan is incorporated into the Yavapai County Plan, and because release of any component of that plan requires the approval of the Director of Emergency Management I have e-mailed [them] concerning your request.  After I hear back from [them], I will either e-mail you the requested document or explain why we cannot release it. “ Shortly thereafter, Sedona.biz received the requested document.

Questions as to how far police powers can be expanded; what is the outbreak threshold for it to be called a pandemic; what powers of quarantine will authorities have and for what duration; and other pertinent information regarding Constitutional rights vs. government power, remain unanswered.

The Annex for Pandemics was developed by Yavapai and Coconino County health officials working with city staff.

Sedona Police Chief Joe Vernier said this was done to avoid confusion.

“The county health departments are aware Sedona is split into two counties,” he said. “They are coordinating the plan so we don’t have two different plans to work with.”

A general overview on dealing with city employees should a pandemic occur was outlined in a presentation by City of Sedona Human Resources Director Victoria Ward.

She also noted statistics indicating that as of Sept. 4, there were seven confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in Yavapai County and 58 confirmed cases in Coconino County.

She said minors were more likely to be experience more severe symptoms when infected.

“Seventy percent of reported Arizona cases are children under 18,” she said. “Children are experiencing more severe symptoms than adults.”

She said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims at least 50 percent of the U.S. population will exhibit some symptoms of the Swine Flu.

She added there was one death in June associated with the illness but did not elaborate if there were underlying complications not associated with the virus.

She said her department did not know when the vaccine will be available; if one or two shots would be sufficient; how severe the disease would be in Sedona; its impact and duration.

She said staff has been proactive and since April has been working on an employee pandemic policy.

“Departments have been asked to develop contingency plans to deal with absences of key employees,” she said. “We’ve been sending information with updates to employees. Hand sanitizers have been distributed and made available at counters.”

She said employees exhibiting symptoms would be sent home and they must stay home until 24-hours after the fever subsides.

“Employees will be encouraged to receive H1N1 inoculations when available,” she said.

She said information will be shared with the school district, fire district and planned meetings with the city’s top employers will be held.

She said they would continue to educate without creating an “information pandemic.”

“We are sending information to employees but not too much to make them push the delete button when they get it,” she said.

Police Chief Vernier, in an interview outside the council chambers, tried to dispel public concerns that there is anything in the classified Annex for Pandemic plan the public should be alarmed about.

“I can understand the skepticism of the public and it’s a good message to us to keep the public informed,” he said. “People don’t usually imagine best case scenarios. They usually imagine the worst. We can encourage people to take the vaccine but we can’t force anyone to do it. No one can make you do it. We will encourage officers to do so and provide them with an option. We can encourage but we can’t mandate.”

He said the main purpose of the Annex for Pandemics plan is to assure the first responders, meaning the police and fire departments, are prepared to handle the situation as efficiently, safely and professionally as possible.