SAN ANTONIO, Texas—City and County leaders activated The San Antonio Bexar County Emergency Operations Center after declaring a public health emergency in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
“What you're going to see inside is probably 60 or so subject matter experts from different agencies, whether it be the city police department, fire department, county agencies, state and federal agencies and different departments in the city that are all working together to coordinate a response for this incident,” said San Antonio Fire Department Chief Charles Hood.
Hood said the team has been meeting almost daily working out plans and trying to figure out what to do next.
“It's very difficult sometimes because we're dealing with an invisible threat,” said Hood.
Hood said the Coronavirus has posed a new challenge for first responders.
“With a hurricane, we can rely on the weather. We know that the hurricane's going to come. We're going to have to rescue people, going to have to shelter them, and then we're going to have to rebuild their lives if we can,” said Hood. “With a fire, we know that that fire is going to burn until there's no more fuel. But with this, it's really unknown.”
The San Antonio Fire Department operates the EOC which is manned throughout the year.
KENS 5 got a tour of the EOC where our first responders check one’s temperature before entering.
Once inside, the mostly open command room is busy with teams working around tables, screens showing live updates of Coronavirus cases in the area.
“I would call this the tip of the spear for the COVID response in this region,” said Hood.
Officials said the thick cement walls that surround the rooms are resistant to natural disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes.
The EOC was last activated during Hurricane Harvey, and now has close to 80 people working to decide daily what needs to happen, and logistics team to carry out the plan.
“We do have a plan, but that plan changes, it seems, like every day,” said Hood.
One of the groups that’s part of this team is the South Texas Regional Advisory Council. Team members coordinate the entire healthcare system including hospitals and EMS systems.
One of the big concerns surrounding the Coronavirus is hospital capacity, and something addressed in EOC meetings.
“How do we reduce the surge of our hospitals? We do not want our hospitals to run out of capacity for people that are sick and injured,” said Hood.
Hood said the strategies may change from day to day, but he said the goal is always the same.
“We want our citizens to stay home. We want our citizens to protect themselves and allow us to protect them the best way that we know how,” said Hood.
Hood said this is the first time in all his years of being a first responder that a crisis has hit so close to home.
“I've been to a lot of large scale emergencies in my career, in other cities and states. This is the first time I've had to deal with a large-scale emergency where I live,” said Hood.
“It's important to us because we have a vested interest, because our friends, our families, our loved ones live here. So, we want to make sure that everyone is safe and we can manage this the best way we can,” he added.
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