The City of  Alamosa, Colorado, was hit with a citywide outbreak of salmonella being spread by the local water system in March. The emergency management response lasted several weeks and included three management teams to assist local authorities, including Jeffco's Incident Management Team. 

With such a large response and cleanup effort, local emergency management authorities needed reinforcements and relief. A request was made to the Jefferson County Incident Management Team by the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, and the Jeffco team arrived in Alamosa on March 22. By shadowing the local team, they learned the situation, the action plans, and the issues on the horizon. After 24 hours, the Jeffco team stepped into their roles and assumed incident command.

With nearly 11,500 residents, the response in Alamosa needed to be fast, efficient, detailed, and most of all, well coordinated. "The job of the Incident Management Team is not to be the firefighters, but to manage any chaos and bring organization to the response," explained Jeffco Emergency Management Director and Incident Commander Tim McSherry.

The Jeffco team of 10 worked long hours for six days, working through logistics and communications. McSherry never thought he would learn so much about city water systems, super-chlorination or salmonella. He explained that so many things were happening all at the same time, but that the priority was always on getting "good, accurate and timely information" to both those officials responding to the issues as well as to the public.

The Jeffco Incident Management Team's goals and objectives in Alamosa were:

·         Promote public health and safety by dissemination of clear, accurate, and timely information regarding the salmonella outbreak and the city water cleansing process.

·         Coordinate with county and state health departments to capture surveillance and continue research on epidemiology information.

·         Support City of Alamosa by strong use of volunteers and donations whenever possible and reasonable.

·         Effectively distribute potable water to city residences.

·         Provide for the safety and welfare of responders and the public.

Thanks to the teamwork of everyone in Alamosa, the citizens are now able to again drink directly from the tap. To avoid future contamination, the city's water will be continually treated and disinfected like most other systems in the state.

Jeffco's Incident Management Team is a local, multi-jurisdictional group that trains together quarterly. The full team is composed of more than 100 people from 20 different agencies in and around the county, including fire departments, forest service and land management agencies, the Sheriff's Office and other local police departments.

"We play the 'what if' game a lot: terrorism, tornados, blizzards, wildfires, etc. Generally we deal in doom and gloom," explained McSherry about how they plan and practice for disasters. But all that preparation has made the Jeffco team a model for others.

A large part of the emergency management function throughout the year is public awareness. Whether educating citizens on creating 72-hour disaster kits or working with property owners on wildfire mitigation and slash collection, McSherry and his team are always thinking ahead to minimize the emergency before it begins.

To learn more about Emergency Management in Jeffco, visit their Web site.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), in conjunction with the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment, announced today that Coloradans now can drop-off their used compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and mercury-containing thermostats for recycling at any Ace Hardware store in the state.  The recycling program is a collaborative effort of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Xcel Energy, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Platte River Power Authority and Ace Hardware Stores in Colorado.

People hear "Head Start" and immediately think preschool. While providing high-quality preschool is at the core of its mission, Jefferson County Head Start also sponsors programs and events to help the families of those preschoolers.

This spring, Jefferson County's Head Start program sponsored two such events, the Father/Male Involvement Event sponsored by Lowe's and the Child and Community Connection Event, which highlight another important role the program plays in our community.

Lowe's Father/Male Involvement Event
Families that build together create connections that last long after all the nails are hammered. On March 15, fathers, other males significantly involved with the child, and the children assembled small wooden planter boxes just in time for spring. With the help of the knowledgeable Lowe's staff, the men and kids of all skill levels were able to create a sturdy new wheelbarrow planter. Close to 35 fathers or male caregivers and their kids enjoyed a light breakfast provided by Jefferson County Head Start before digging into to the planter project. In addition to the take-home project, kids were also able to take home their work aprons.

Jefferson County Head Start sponsors the Father/Male Involvement program because substantial research indicates that children without a significant male role model are five times more likely to commit suicide, 32 times more likely to run away and nine times more likely to drop out of school, among other compelling statistics. By spending a bright Saturday morning building a planter, Jefferson County fathers did their part to make statistics like these a thing of the past.

Child and Community Connection Event
"Who can I call for housing assistance?"  "Are there tutoring services available for my child?"  Questions like these can be hard to answer for parents negotiating the many different resources available through Jefferson County. To help answer these questions and provide a fun opportunity for families to learn about resources, Jefferson County Head Start held a Child & Community Connection Family Event at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on Thursday, April 17.

Nearly 300 children and family members attended the event where they enjoyed puppet shows, craft activities, a BBQ dinner and the chance to meet local law enforcement officials and fire fighters. Twenty-five different organizations, including Home Instruction for Parents with Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Jeffco Workforce Services, Lakewood Housing Authority, West Metro Fire Department, Golden Police Department, U S Fish & Wildlife, Jefferson County Public Library, Colorado Shares, Jeffco Sheriff Department, Red Rocks Community College and Jeffco Public Health had booths where families could ask questions and obtain information.

In addition to having a one-stop shop for learning about resources, attendees also enjoyed winning close to 80 different raffle prizes. Jefferson County Head Start was pleased to sponsor an event that helps its families get the resources they need to help their children grow and thrive.