The Everett Fire Department has put in place a shelter at the Keverian School gym and cafetorium this week to house any potential health care workers in the area who cannot return home.
Chief Tony Carli said firefighters put the shelter up at the Keverian late last week, with beds for 130 to 140 people with cots, blankets and shower facilities.
“We saw an open window last week to get it done and put it up to leave it in case we need it,” he said. “From what we see in the trends over the last few weeks is a lot of health care workers don’t want to or can’t go home. We wanted to get this up and available to our health care workers. The Keverian School was very well-situated in relation to the CHA Everett Hospital.
It’s meant to be a place where they can come for a few hours to rest and then move through.”
Chief Carli said the set-up is for health care workers at the moment, and is not an overflow hospital – but could be if there is an extreme emergency. The equipment has been in the possession of the Everett Fire Department for several years and is part of the 2011 shelter plan for the city. It was provided by the regional emergency management planning consortium, known as UASE. The equipment is stored in a trailer, and Chief Carli said they felt the time was now to get the equipment ready for those who might need it in the coming weeks.
Several cots are now in the cafetorium, and the remainder are in the gym.
The second floor has male and female showers and the first floor has bathrooms facilities. Food would be brought in rather than using the cafeteria facilities.
“This is a kind of best-case scenario with the shelter spots because it’s not a population in need,” he said. “This is for people to come in and get some rest and move through…As far as a shelter could be converted, you could use it for patients, but the intent is to use it for health care workers…If things did get worse, we could stand up other shelters in other parts of the city.”