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Barnstable County Receives Large Shipment of PPE from MEMA

For Immediate Release

Information from Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee

Multi-Agency Coordination Center Receives Large Shipment of PPE from MEMA

22 communities on Cape & Islands will receive supplies

Beneath the National Guard, from left: Department of Health & Environment Director Sean O’Brien, Emergency Preparedness Specialist Andrew Platt, Barnstable County Administrator Jack Yunits, Jr., DCR Warden Joshua Nigro, MACC Manager Michael Walker, Director of Cape Cod Center for Public Safety Training Philip Burt.

BARNSTABLE (MA) July 24, 2020 –In the state’s on-going efforts to contain and stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this morning the National Guard delivered a shipment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on behalf of Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to the BCREPC Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) in Barnstable County. Over 420,000 units of PPE were delivered with plans to be distributed to twenty-two communities across Cape Cod & the Islands.

Department of Conservation & Recreation (Forest Fire Control) District 1 Crew helps unload PPE donated by MEMA and delivered by the National Guard. From left: Brian Everett of Mashpee, Matt Citkins of Barnstable, DCR Warden Joshua Nigro of Plymouth, and Ben Alden of Wareham.

Supplies include K-95 face masks, surgical masks, and face shields and will be dispersed to public safety agencies for further distribution. Each town will receive an allocation based on population, and supplies are prioritized for first responders, firefighters, law enforcement, school departments, and Departments of Public Works.

Since March 16, 2020, the BCREPC Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) has operated daily in response to COVID-19. It has focused on assisting with the procurement of primarily PPE and its delivery. Over 1,000 orders of PPE have been delivered to agencies across Cape Cod and the Islands since its activation.

Rich Bertram came from the Bourne ISWM to lend a hand and a front loader to help off-load over 420K units of PPE for Barnstable County.

Organized by the MACC’s Manager Michael Walker, today’s shipment from MEMA relied on the National Guard, and the Town of Bourne ISWM Department, who provided the front loader and operator. A crew from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Forest Fire Control – District I, who has been assisting at the MACC to deliver PPE across the Cape and Islands since the beginning of March, also aided unloading.

MACC Manager Michael Walker

Michael Walker said, “We want to make sure that Barnstable County residents know that the MACC continues to work with MEMA to deliver critical supplies of PPE out to our Cape and Islands communities.”

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Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (BCREPC)

The BCREPC was founded in September 2002 to assist the communities on Cape Cod and the Town of Nantucket with addressing hazardous materials emergency planning and response as required by the federal government. Today, the BCREPC has expanded its scope to include “All Hazard” emergency planning issues such as storm response, sheltering and grants management. The BCREPC is a coalition of emergency management, law enforcement, fire service, health care, public health, public works, EMS, military, and numerous other affiliated agencies as outlined by the Massachusetts State Emergency Response Committee (SERC). It represents the towns of Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet, and Yarmouth in Barnstable County, and the town of Nantucket in Nantucket County. The REPC is coordinated by the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment. Visit www.bcrepc.org