Briefing to the Commissioners Court by the Deputy Director of the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management
One week ago the Bastrop County Emergency Operations Center (“EOC”) was activated to prepare and plan for the arrival of COVID-19 to a greater degree than we had been doing over the last 6 weeks. For the first time in the history of Bastrop County, the Cities of Bastrop, Smithville and Elgin have joined together as a Joint EOC. The goal is to flatten the curve so that our healthcare systems do not become overwhelmed. To accomplish that we must ALL work together. Events across the Country and State have been and will continue to be rapidly unfolding.
Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Bastrop County Health Authority, has put together an amazing Medical Team that consists of 3 local physicians, 2 pulmonologists, an epidemiologist and representatives from Ascension Seton Bastrop/Smithville, St. David’s and Premier ER, as well as our Emergency Medical Services provider, Acadian. We have put together a great team of dedicated, qualified individuals from all 3 cities, the County, nonprofits and private individuals who are all working together to achieve the goal.
Within 24 hours, a hotline was opened for citizens to get their questions answered. In cooperation with Ascension, we were able to refer callers to a medical helpline if they were concerned they were sick.
Bastrop County, in cooperation with the Cities of Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville along with the healthcare community will be activating a testing site on Tuesday, March 24th. This site will be closed to the public. This location is designated for healthcare providers to send patients who require testing for the COVID-19 virus. The public should not line up to be tested, as the general public is not being accepted without an order from a healthcare provider. This will help alleviate the testing burden on our local emergency rooms and care providers.
Under a partnership with the LCRA, we will be establishing a location where any First Responders who may be exposed, or who become sick with COVID-19 in the future, can stay so as not to expose their families to the virus. We are also working on a separate Patient Monitoring Center that can house individuals who may test positive for COVID-19, so they do not expose their household members to the virus.
This week the EOC will be expanding to include a Recovery Unit. The economic fallout will be real and will be felt for years to come. We want to be sure to start by helping our communities recover now.
It is likely that things are going to get worse before they get better, but we will prevail together and recover. In closing, we ask for your prayers for our world, for our country and for our community, our political leaders, first responders, healthcare workers and our OEM Team.