APPENDIX HVERMONT STATE AGENCY REPORTS - Continued.
State ot Vermont
Agency of Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05676
Telephone: (802) 241-2220
Fax: (802) 244-8103
MEMORANDUM
To: Michael Gilhooley, Analyst, Governors Policy Office
From: Cornelius D. Hogan, Secretary, AHS
Date: July 18, 1991
RE: Department of Health Overview of the Rainbow Family
Gathering in Granville, Vermont.
To date there has been no evidence of an outbreak of an
infectious disease, in spite of the potential. The Department of
Health Staff had a significant daily presence at the gathering.
Three to five Department of Health staff (sanitarian, engineers,
epidemiologists ) made daily site visits to inspect kitchens,
latrines, test water and provide education, instruction, and
literature to family members concerning treatment of drinking
water, construction of latrines, washing of dishes, etc. We also
made daily visits to the Calm center (medical tent) to estimate
the occurance of dirrheal and other forms of illness and offer
advice. I would estimate the total man hours of Department of
Health staff involvement at 500-600 hours plus a 1,000 miles of
travel cost and one hundred laboratory tests, or about
$10-12,000.00.
All of this effort, I think, played a significant role in
preventing a major infectious disease outbreak. Major concerns
are discussed below.
Sanitation Issues
1. Water
Water, or the lack of potable drinking water, was the main
concern of this gathering from day one. The Health Department's
original recommendation to the Rainbow Family was for them to
truck water for drinking purposes for this event. This could be
done using milk transport trucks. To my knowledge this is the
major recommendation at all of the annual gatherings of the
family and the family consistently resists this recommendation
and persists on developing its' own on-site water system.
Despite the fact that family members were looking for an adequate
protected source since early May, they did not settle on a final
choice until the last week in June. This turned out to be a
surface water
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brook, which tested positive for total coliform. It wasn't until
June 30 that water actually flowed through the distribution
system. The Department of Health had concerns that their water
systems' capacity would not be able to meet the peak demand
placed on it by sixteen or more thousand people on July 4. We
had our engineers evaluate the system and they felt that it
probably would be able to provide an adequate quantity of water,
and this in fact turned out to be true. If the demand had
exceeded the capacity of the system, we woudl have issued a
public health order, and court order if necessary, to require the
family to truck bulk water to the event.
2. Pit Latrines
The same problem exists with the construction of pit latrines.
Very little progress was made until near the end of June. In the
last week of June they had only five or six latrines dug. But,
by the second of July they had 36 latrines that were well
constructed and maintained throughout the gathering. We had
asked them to provide 70 or 75 latrines, it is our general
impression that you will usually get about 25% compliance for
requests. This might be of some interest to others who are
making requests of the family in the future.
3. Hand Washing
They were very good about having hand washing facilities
available at all communal kitchens. They generally used a three
bucket dishwashing system with the first being hot soapy water,
the second being a hot disinfectant rinse, and the last being a
clear hot rinse.
Other
1. Calm Center
The Calm Center was visited daily from June 25 through the
weekend following the fourth. They willingly provided us with
information concerning the kinds of medical conditions they were
seeing and treating.
2. Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
There are two basic issues with emergency medical services. The first was that, at least initially, in the gathering when the
local EMS squad was summoned for assistance they were stopped by
the County Sheriff and the U.S. Forest Law
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Enforcement staff who in turn brought the patient out of the
gathering site to the barricades for transport by EMS. A meeting
with the Incident Command Team reversed this process and EMS was
allowed access into the gathering.
The second issue is overload. Granville, Vermont is an isolated rural community served by a single EMS squad. Back-up was
available from multiple squads, but would require a 30 minute
wait for a second ambulance to arrive on site. The number of
calls per day caused an overload for the single ambulance squad.
They were worried that they would not be able to respond to local
emergencies. Each transport to a hospital required a 2 1/2 hour
run, with as many as 3 or 4 runs on some days. This meant that
there was no ambulance in the community for eight or more hours
on those days. However, additional trained squad members were
available to respond and initiate care. Fortunately the total
calls were only 10.
3. Unattended/Unexpected Deaths
It is important to point out that the operational plan of this,
and apparently all previous, gatherings did not have a protocol
for unexpected or unattended deaths. A meeting on July 2, at the
Incidence Command Center, discussed this. A protocol was
established that reflects the process to be followed in the event
of Any untimely , unattended death in Vermont, i.e. EMS
determines if the victim is obviously dead, and summons the State
Police who take control of the scene. They, in turn, summon the
regional medical examiner and the local States' attorney who have
the authority to order the removal of the body from the scene for
autopsy. If CPR is in progress the EMS squad will continue, and
transport the victim to the local emergency room where the E.R.
physician will make a determination to discontinue efforts and
pronounce death.
The results of theedical Examiner's investigation of the
infant death that occurred on June 29 are pending.
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State of Vermont
Agency of Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05676
(802)241-2220
MEMO TO: Michael Gilhooly, Analyst, Governor's Policy Office
FROM: Cornelius D. Hogan, Secretary
DATE: July 18, 1991
SUBJECT: Rainbow Summary
Rainbow participants who applied for assistance were almost exclusively asking for Food Stamp benefits. This program is
controlled by federal rules and the benefit is 100 percent
federally funded. Administrative costs, however, are split 50-50
between State and federal government.
FOOD STAMP APPLICATION ACTIVITY |
District | No. Applications | No. Grants |
Middlebury | 52 | 41 |
Rutland | 23 | 21 |
Brattleboro | 21 | 18 |
Barre | 1 | 1 |
Burlington | 6 | 3 |
TOTAL | 103 | 84 |
This experience compares favorable with that of Minnesota, site
of last years gathering of a similar size which resulted in
approximately 200 applications being filed.
ANFC APPLICATION ACTIVITY
Four application filed 3 denied. One application involving a
native Vermonter is still pending.
GENERAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITY
Three applications. One grant of $35.00 was provided to a
battered woman with child.
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MEDICADE APPLICATION ACTIVITY
Five applications with one case granted.
STAFF OBSERVATIONS
Participants were very coperative with staff. Most were
knowledgeable about eligibility rules and had prior food stmp
participation in other states. Gathering seemed to attract a
number of transient or nomadic types and these were the
individuals requesting aid.
It is believed that some ofthe participants whoplan to remain in
Vermont, for however long, may go to Earth People's Park in
Norton, a traditional Mecca during summer months.
JK/bok
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State of Vermont
Agency of Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05676
(802)241-2220
MEMO TO: Michael Gilhooly, Analyst, Governor's Policy Office
FROM: Cornelius D. Hogan, Secretary, AHS
DATE: July 18, 19
SUBJECT: Rainbow Family Gathering Follow-up
Corrections was extremely fortunate to not have been impacted to any great measure byt he recent Rainbow Family gathering.
As of July 11, 1991, theere were nine people lodged, four for
Possession of a Regulated Drug, one for Disorderly Conduct, one
for Aggravated Assult, two for DUI, and one for Driving While
License Suspended. There were approximately 28 inmate days.
Using the $66.36 we charge others, this works out to a cost of
$1,858.08. There are still three individuals incarcerated. We
may also recoup some of this money if any of the individuals were
held as Federal prisoners and we are able to charge them.
The Department of Corrections expended very little in costs and man-power in other issues related to the gathering. The majority
of our expense was in preparation by Central Office staff in the
event of a mass arrest. Additional time was expended by the
Rutland staff gathering information that was submitted to your
office each day. Ti is estimated that staff rime involved above
the cost approximately $500.00. This brings the total
approximate cost to the Department to $2,358.00
Rutland Superintendent Michael O'Malley, who was closest to the situation, advised that the gathering had extremely minimal
impact on his institution. As coparison, he used "fir week,"
which he indicated on its first night alone generates more
problems for his facility than what was experienced with the
Rainbow Gathering.
Regarding recommendations to stop problems if another Rainbow Gathering weere to occur in Vermont, the idea of a "peace bond" has great appeal, especially when you have 17,000 people who put a large strain on human service resources gathering under a very
loose umbrella organization.
Lastly, I feel it is important not to minimize Corrections actual costs and involvement. The potential for a very serious and
dangerous situation to have occurred was very real. Given our
experience with abortion protestors who did not create security
and custody problems, dealing with a population who had security
and custody considerations would have been a monumental task.
CKH/smj
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State of Vermont
Agency of Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05676
(802)241-2220
MEMO TO: Michael Gilhooly, Analyst, Governor's Policy Office
FROM: Cornelius D. Hogan, Secretary, Agency of Human Services
DATE: July 18, 1991
SUBJECT: Rainbow Family Gathering
This is in response to your request for comment regarding the
Rainbow Family Gathering. Mine is Brief. As you may recall, we
had only one incident involving an individual travelig to the
meeting who left his children unattended in a car late a at night
while he was drinking in Brattleboro. Considering the number of
people involved, it is certainly fair to say that the gathering
was a non-event from a child protection standpoint. I've talked
with several individuals who were at the gathering and from their
observation I do not believe that we have missed any major child
correction problem.
You had asked for a comment regarding future gatherings. I can't
claim an great expertise in this ara, but is seems to me that,
should the Rainbow Family decide to come to Vermont again, a low
key response is the best approach. I don't have the information
to comment on this from a Public Safety or Health perspective,
but it seems to me that we did it right this first time around
and I don't have any major recommendations for change should we
deal with it agin.
WMY/rw
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State of Vermont
Agency of Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Agency of Human Services
103 South Main Street
Waterbury, Vermont 05676
(802)241-2220
MEMO TO: Michael Gilhooly, Analyst, Governor's Policy Office
FROM: Cornelius D. Hogan, Secretary
DATE: July 18, 1991
SUBJECT: Activities Related to Rainbow Family Gathering
(Mary Lou Bolt)
6/25/91
Attended Forest Service planning session at Rochester
High School. Met all key personnel from Forest Service and
Addison County Sheriff's Department. The Forest Service handed
out their objectives for this gathering (attached). Robert Burt
distributed the Forest Service Safety Plan. I metwith Nancy But
as well as Robert Burt who aretogether coordinating health and
safety for the Forest Service. We made apln tomeet at 9:00 a.m.
on Wednesday, June 26, 1991 to go into the gathering.
6/26/91
It was my objective to meet and talk with people from
the Rainbow Family to discuss Human Service issues. Snce my name
tg identified me as being from the Health Department, it was
difficult ot get away from helth issues, etc. I did discuss with
Jane Lightwarrior the use oflocal emergency rooms. When I
revealed the presenting problems of the people who went to Porter
emergency room, she stated that all of these could have been
dealt with at their "CALM" unit. She will be visiting Porter in
the near future to thank them for their services (pay?) and
reassure themthat they are encouraging people to use services
available at the gathering.
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Tapping into a water source and then distributing water was a
huge topic of discussion at the gathering. Many family members
approached Al Burns, Sanitarian Supervisor, with questions on how
to make the contaminated river water safe for drinking. Nancy
and Bob Burt from the Forest Service talked with family members
at "Kid Village" concerning the filtration system for water usage
there. The charcoal filtrtion system had been opened and was
thus useless. The Burt's will recommend tomorrow that they boil
or chlorinate the water. I distributed tothe Forest Service a
list of phone numbers and key people forthe Health Department as
well as names and phone numbers for those from Epi and
Environmental Health who will beon call over the two weekends and
July 4th holiday.
6/28/91
The Forest Service as well as the Stste Police requested a
listing of who from the Health Department would be doing the
daily walk-through inspections of the gathering. I obtained this
list from Al Burns, Sanitarian Supervisor, on 6/28 and then
provided it to Sgt. Ross from the Vermont State Police in person,
at their command center in Rochester later Friday morning, as
well as the Forest Service. Jim Zingenser, DVM, from Epi, had
requested stool sample cans be made available by the Health
Department at the Incident Command Center in Rochester. They
weere needed before the weekend, so I brought what was available
in the Middlebury office to Rochester.
As Bob O'Grady has probably relayed, the Healthe Department will
be taking daily water samples from three locations onthe White
River downstream from the gathering. Al Burns, Sanitarian
Supervisor, stated there was a remote possibility that they
might write a health order if sufficient latrines were not dug
soon as the Health Department had recommended.
7/1/91
Read of infant death at the Gathering in the Free Press. Linda
Dorey, Public Affairs fort he Health Department, reports that the
Medical Examiner's office has received one call from the press as
of 9:00 am.m this morning.
7/2/91
The autopsy onthe infant was completed yesterday - cusse of death
is pending. Preliminary report usually requires a week to ten
days and the final autopsy report takes about six weeks. Any
inquiries should go directly to the chief medical exminer's
office.
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Steve Chupack
FROM: Mary Lou Bolt, VDH - Middlebury
DATE: July 10, 1991
SUBJECT: Rainbow Family Gathering - Final Report
Attached is a summary sheet of services that family members
accessed between 6/18 and 7/8. As I told you in our phone
conversation on 7/8, I had a call from the crisis worker for CSAC
aat home over the last weekend. I was able to make a connection
with the Forest Service so that his message could be delivered to
the Rainbow Family Council.
It would seem that the majority of people have dispersed by now
with only a small number choosing to remain in Vermont. If you
do receive any information as to the current status, I would
appreciate that information.
Needless to say, it has been an interesting experience. Please
call if you need any additional information.
cc: Patricia Berry
Fran DeFlorio
MLG/bd
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Services Accessed by Rainbow Family |
Date | Report | Hospital/For | Wic | Mental | Report Given To | Notes |
6/9 | 6/18 | RRMC-2 through ER | - | - | Bob O'Grady | - |
6/20 | 6/19 | Porter-Disclosed there has been 1 birth at the encampment | - | - | Terry Mocaig | - |
6/21 | 6/20 | - | - | - | Bob O'Grady | Reported Addison Cty.
Community Action Food Shelf being depleted |
6/24 | 6/21-23 | Porter - 1.Knee/Ankle sprain, 2. Urinary tract infection | - | - | Bob's Secretary | - |
6/25 | 6/24 | Porter-1.Laceration | - | - | No Call | - |
6/26 | 6/35 | - | - | - | No Call | - |
6/27 | 6/26 | - | - | - | No Call | - |
6/28 | 6/27 | - | - | - | No Call | - |
7/1 | 6/28-30 | Porter-1.Wrist Sprain | - | - | Bob's Secretary | - |
7/2 | 7/1 | Porter-1.Asthmatic | - | - | Bob's Secretary | - |
7/3 | 7/2 | RRMC-1.Psycho.Problem | - | - | Bob's Secretary | - |
7/4 | - | HOLIDAY | No Calls | - | - | - |
7/5 | 7/3,4 | Porter-1.Dehydration 2.Heroin Withdrawal, 3.Seizure Disorder | - | - | Bob's Secretary | - |
7/8 | 7/5,6,7 | Porter-1.Scalp Wound 2.Tooth Abcess,3.2 Men LSD Withdrawal | - | Same 2 LSD | Bob's Secretary Withdrawal | - |
7/9 | 7/8 | - | 1 | - | No Call | Walking to Health Dept. Suspected Scabies |
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