Don’t panic, neither of these things have occurred or are imminent. These were two of the topics of our most recent faculty meeting. This is one of those times that I realize just like Dorothy and Toto, “I am not in Montana anymore.”
June 1st to November 30 is Hurricane season. And a Naval base is all about safety and security. So we are starting now with hurricane drills. The following is the Conditions of Readiness (COR) the base goes through if a Hurricane is anticipated.
Condition of Readiness or CORs, are a progressive process to prepare for the destructive forces of destructive wind. By definition, destructive winds of greater than 50 knots.
Readiness Condition V Set throughout Hurricane season (June 1-Nov. 30).
Readiness Condition IV Set when hurricane force winds are possible within three days.
Readiness Condition III Set when a hurricane could strike within two days. Start securing your home and double- checking your disaster supply kit and compiling important paperwork.
Readiness Condition II Set when a hurricane could strike GTMO within 24 hours. All emergency personnel report for duty and all base leave and liberty is cancelled. All residents should stay tuned to the Naval Station’s three radio frequencies for further instructions. Outdoor furniture, trash cans and other moveable objects should be moved inside or securely tied.
Readiness Condition I Set when the hurricane will strike the base within 12 hours. The base siren will sound a three-minute series of wails to indicate “take cover.” At this time, the ferry will be secured and all privately owned vehicle traffic will be secured. Also, all non-essential personnel should proceed to hurricane shelters or hurricane- resistant housing. After the hurricane has cleared the area, firefighting, public works rescue and security teams will deploy to assess damage. All non-essential personnel should remain in their shelters until a verbal “all clear” is passed.
All Clear When the “all clear” is passed, all military and civilian employees should leave their shelters and report to work centers for muster and further instructions. All residents will be allowed to return to their quarters.
Hurricane are categorized from 1-5 based on wind speeds as follows:
Category 1 = 64-82 knots / 75-95 mph
Category 2 = 83-95 knots / 96-110 mph
Category 3 = 96-113 knots / 111-130 mph
Category 4 = 114-135 knots / 131-155 mph
Category 5 = > 135 knots / >155 mph
Two years ago Hurricane Sandy hit the base before it headed up the Eastern seaboard. It did substantial damage. It destroyed buildings and threw the MWR recreation boats all over the bay. Even parts of the shoreline were destroyed. Evidently Conditions of Readiness went from V to I in ten hours. My housing is Hurricane – resistant as are the schools, so we are good to go.
Agenda Item Number 2 – Med-evac
This is the GTMO hospital. It is probably pretty comparable to most small town hospitals in the states. We have doctors and specialists visit the island periodically. We even have an OB/GYN. But the personnel at the hospital are very conservative about what they treat on island. Any situation that has the potential to require more advanced care, they refer off island. This is medevac. Some medevac are not emergency-based. In that case, the patient can make arranges to go off island and get the necessary care.
However, if the situation is urgent or life-threatening, they will call in an air ambulance to take the patient to Miami or Jacksonville. They cannot get the air ambulance here unless they have a guarantee of payment. So the discussion at the faculty meeting was about checking our insurance policies to make sure we have that coverage. If you don’t have the coverage the air ambulance can cost from 15,000 to 30,000. I checked; I have the coverage. (Whew!)
My school district actually has a line item in the budget for med-evac.
I hope that this information doesn’t come in handy… but we are all about safety and security here at GTMO.
shawberget 