A Pizza Party, Blue Jeans and a Double-decker Bus

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Department of Child Support Services employees set up a March of Dimes display at their office in downtown San Diego to generate interest in this year's fundraising campaign. Pictured from left to right are: Theresa Macias, Genoveva Martin, Ada Sanchez and Maria Herrera.

Carl Bell threw a pizza party for his co-workers when they helped him reach the $600 mark for March of Dimes fundraising. The former Director of the Farm & Home Advisor office also helped organize a silent auction fundraiser, and donated to it a box of ceramic pottery handmade by his wife.

Maria Herrera secured the OK from the director of her department, Child Support Services, to sell “Blue Jeans for Babies” stickers to her co-workers to raise money. She then sold dozens of the $2 stickers, which allow employees to wear jeans to work for the day.  

Probation’s Kenneth Carr got 70 friends and family members together for a fundraiser pub crawl. Each person contributed $40, a portion of which went to the charity. Then Carr got his aunt’s company to double match the sum raised.

While many County employees rely on traditional fundraising tactics, others have gotten more creative in their efforts to support March of Dimes campaigns in recent years. These efforts have helped make the County one of the 75-year-old nonprofit’s biggest regional supporters. Over the past 10 years, County-supported fundraising campaigns have collected $538,718. Bell, Herrera and Carr were among the top individual fundraisers at the County in the last few years.

Hundreds of County employees are expected to participate in the County’s March of Dimes fundraising campaign again this year by walking in the organization’s biggest annual fundraiser, the March for Babies. The 5K walk is scheduled for Saturday, April 13 in Oceanside and Saturday, April 27 at Balboa Park. To register for one of the events or make a donation to your group’s team, visit the March for Babies page on InSite.

The 75-year-old March of Dimes has been at the forefront of improving the health of mothers and babies since its start. President Franklin Roosevelt founded the organization in 1938 with the goal of ending the polio epidemic. With that goal achieved, the March of Dimes today works more broadly to improve the health of moms and babies.

Bell raised $1,133 in a recent campaign, earning him a spot among the County’s top individual fundraisers. Bell said he and his wife decided a few years ago to “devote a certain amount of money to charitable activities.”

“We set aside our own target and each found worthy causes,” Bell said.

As the former acting Farm & Home Advisor, Bell had encouraged colleagues to contribute to the March of Dimes campaign by offering a pizza party if his unit came up with at least $600 to match his contribution. They did.

They also organized a successful silent auction. Employees brought in items from home, including CDs, jewelry, tableware and cooking utensils.  Bell came across a box of his wife’s pottery, which she had made in college. The items proved popular, fetching up to $50 apiece.   

The Farm & Home Advisor’s office is planning a March of Dimes silent auction again this year. The event will take place April 22 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the County Operations Center, 5530 Overland Ave., Room 124. It’s open to all County employees.

A lot of good natured camaraderie among the LUEG department heads helped fuel the effort, Bell said.

What about any personal connections to the cause? Yes, Bell’s son, now 33 years old, was born with a congenital heart defect and almost died at 10 days old.

Herrera, a Legal Support Assistant in Child Support Services has also been a top fundraiser at the County, after collecting $1,005 for the charity last year. She said she has seen how the March of Dimes benefits mothers and babies first hand. Her step son was born premature.

“I saw how helpless a little baby is like that when they are premature and how much difference it makes to have March of Dimes involved in programs that help mothers,” she said. “I love children and see that if there’s any way we can help, we should, because children are our future.”

Carr, a Deputy Probation Officer in the Department of Probation, raised one of the largest sums of all County employees last year with $1,700. He said his inspiration was very personal, as well. His younger brother died at the age of two and a half from a heart defect.

So Carr, who had recently moved to San Diego from Philadelphia, decided to do something about six years ago. He started organizing a St. Patrick’s themed pub crawl and donated part of the proceeds to the March of Dimes. The annual event has more than doubled in size since he created it.

“I started with a 30 person school bus, now we use a 70 person double-decker bus and have a waiting list,” Carr said.

In organizing the event, Carr called around to Irish pubs in search of discounts. He made up T-shirts and charged each person $40, a portion of it going to the March of Dimes. His parents even flew out from Philadelphia for the event. His aunt’s company, Johnson & Johnson, then double matched the amount raised.   

Another recent top fundraiser, Sarah Aghassi, said her inspiration came from children, too. The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer/General Manager for the Land Use & Environment Group (LUEG) raised $1,765 as part of a recent campaign.

Aghassi said children hold a very special place in her heart. They have such incredible insight and honesty and look at the world with curiosity and excitement, she said.

“Healthy babies provide the foundation for kids to be kids,” she said. “And the March of Dimes is a great organization to help.”

Aghassi said she raised the funds by asking family and friends to support the cause. She asked them to think about how important healthy babies have been in their lives, whether their own or a loved one.

Other recent top fundraisers have included Leonard Pinson, a project manager for the Department of General Services, and Eric Lardy, a Staff Officer for LUEG.

For more information or to donate or participate, visit the March of Dimes page on InSite.

Blood: The Gift of Life

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Some of you do it because you feel it’s the right thing to do. Some of you do it because you were asked by a friend.

The need for blood is constant. Can you help? You could help save someone’s life.

The 29th Annual County Employee Blood Drive starts Wednesday, April 3, and takes place at seven locations throughout the month.  All employees are encouraged to donate blood and you can ask family members or friends to donate too.

“The response from County employees is amazing year after year,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox, a lifelong donor who has made more than 120 donations over the years. “Employees make the annual County Blood Drive one of the San Diego Blood Bank's largest and most successful collection events.”

Last year, County employees donated more than 260 pints of blood during the blood drive, a figure organizers hope to surpass.  You can use County time to give blood if you ask your supervisor for approval in advance.  

The donations are critical to trauma patients or people who suffer from life-threatening blood disorders like aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia and leukemia.

“We don’t know when anyone is going to need blood. People could need blood for so many different reasons,” said Juan Olmeda, a border health assistant at the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) who needed blood transfusions when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009. Olmeda required a bone marrow transplant from his sister in order to survive.

His diagnosis rendered Olmeda unable to donate his blood, something he had been doing for years. Instead, Olmeda asked his two children and some friends to donate blood in his name.

“It’s a way to give something to the community,” said Olmeda, whose office has been spearheading the blood drive for the past nine years. “It’s free and everybody can give it because we all have blood.”

Donors of all blood types are needed. Up to three people can make use your one blood donation.

“Donating blood is such a powerful act, and really embodies the spirit of Live Well, San Diego!, the County’s regional wellness initiative” said Nick Macchione, HHSA director.  “When County employees give blood, they are supporting a healthier, safer and more thriving San Diego County.”

You can make an appointment on line or walk-in. The list of dates and locations is below.

County Administration Center, Wednesday, April 3, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

North County Regional Complex, Tuesday, April 9, from 9 am to 2 pm.

County Operations Center – Overland, Wednesday, April 10, from 9 am to 2:30 pm.

County Health & Human Services, Lemon Grove, Tuesday, April 16, from 11:30 am to 2 pm.

HHSA/PHS California Children Services, Tuesday, April 16, from 7 to 9:30 am

Health Services Complex, Friday, April 19, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

County Health & Human Services, Chula Vista, Thursday, April 25, from 9 am to 2 pm.

The Friendly Face behind the Counter

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 Jeanne Peoples, a Human Resources Assistant, staffs the front counter at DHR's County Operations Center office.

Hers is among the first faces visitors see when they arrive at the Department of Human Resources.

Jeanne Peoples, a Human Resources Assistant, offers each a warm greeting and strives to help anyone who needs it.

It’s not unusual for Peoples, who has served in this position since 1997, to make several phone calls to assist someone who is lost or give a job seeker a copy of her own handmade, six-page job resource list. It’s obvious she loves what she does.

“It’s like making tons and tons of friends,” Peoples said of her job.

Peoples has won so many customer service awards through the County’s Serving Everyone with Excellence program that last year she received a Lifetime Achievement award. The program recognizes employees who provide outstanding service, interacting with courtesy, promptness, attention to detail and respect.

Peoples is the third and final County employee to be spotlighted this month, National Ethics Awareness Month, as part of a series on employees living the County’s core values of integrity, responsible stewardship of resources and commitment to excellence every day. The County’s Statement of Values details them.

Peoples is not one to seek praise. She’d prefer to not talk about herself. She doesn’t think she is doing anything particularly special, said her supervisor, Lisa McAvoy, Human Resources Support Supervisor.  Her customer service skills just come naturally, McAvoy said.

“I know if Jeanne is up at the front counter, I don’t have to worry about it,” McAvoy said. “She deals with things in such a wonderful manner. It’s her instinct to know what to do.”

Peoples almost didn’t end up in this job. Initially she interviewed for a different position at the County. She’d worked in several customer service jobs: at an insurance company and for a veterinarian. But she was up for a non-customer service job. It didn’t take her interviewer long to figure out that Peoples would be good at a front counter, interacting with the public.

What doesn’t Peoples do? Make promises she can’t keep, said Eric Martens, an Office Assistant for DHR’s Loss Prevention division. The two sit directly next to each other in the front lobby of DHR’s County Operations Center office. They work like co-pilots, he said, touching base first thing every morning on what’s ahead and helping each other through the challenges and unexpected issues that make each day different.

Peoples is reliable both with customers and co-workers, he said. Everyone knows she is going to do what she says she will do.

Her goal is simple: make sure her customers leave with more than they came for.

One of the keys, she said, is listening carefully to them to understand their needs. She works to resolve their needs or refer them to someone who can.

The other day a man approached the front counter saying he was there to fix an employee’s computer. The only problem was he didn’t know who he was there to help.

Peoples and Marten called several divisions in DHR to try to track down the employee with the broken computer. They left messages wherever they called and continued calling until they found the employee in need of the repairs.

Every day, Peoples takes calls from people trying unsuccessfully to reach other employees in DHR. She doesn’t just send them to voice mail or take a message. She locates the employee, takes down the caller’s name and number and offers to personally hand the message to the employee or get back to the caller with a status update.

It’s the same with the many job seekers who approach the front counter looking for work.

If they haven’t already checked the County’s online job postings, Peoples shows them how to do so.   Some know little to nothing about how to use a computer, so she starts with the basics.

“They go from frustrated to happy and that’s a nice feeling,” she said.

Job seekers may need to continue searching, and she offers them additional resources. Peoples hands them a job and training resource list that she created on her own. It lists hundreds of websites with job postings. She said she likes to be able to help them in any way she can.

Sometimes, job seekers push her for specific, even confidential, information about the hiring process or their chances. Peoples responds politely, saying she doesn’t have access to that information.

Customers remember her.

Peoples said she’s been approached by customers out in the public who remember her. They thank her for her help.

One time a man approached the front counter 10 years after she had helped him. When he saw her, he remarked, “you’re still here, good.”

Among the qualities her co-workers said they appreciate most about Peoples is the great attitude she has toward her job.

They describe her as a delight to be around.

At the root of it all? Peoples just plain adores what she does.

“It is a wonderful feeling to go to work every day and love what I do,” she said.

Blazing Trails for Babies

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 Yessenia Simpi's son, Luis Alfonso, weighed only 1 lb, 15 oz. when he was born. The March of Dimes funds research to help premature babies and promote newborn health.

Whether you walk on the County’s team, donate to a participating co-worker or organize a fundraiser, your support of the March of Dimes make a difference in the community.

But do you know what the nonprofit does? Or where the money it raises goes? 

The 75-year-old organization has a long and distinguished history of working to improve the health of mothers and babies--and being at the forefront in doing so. Turns out, the March of Dimes has funded some of the biggest medical advances of the 20th and 21st centuries. Research it helped fund has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes.

The County has been one of its biggest supporters in the region, raising $538,718 over the past 10 years through fundraising campaigns. Last year, the County employees collected $42,194.

Hundreds of County employees are expected to walk again this year in the March of Dimes' biggest annual fundraiser, the March for Babies. When it began in 1970, the event was the first charitable walk held in the U.S. The 5K walk happens every spring and is scheduled to take place Saturday, April 13 in Oceanside and Saturday, April 27 at Balboa Park. To register for one of the events or make a donation to your group’s team, visit the March for Babies page on InSite.

Founded by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, the March of Dimes' original mission was to end the polio epidemic. With that goal achieved by the 1950s, the nonprofit’s focus shifted to discovering the genetic causes of birth defects. It also worked to promote newborn screenings and educate medical staffs and the public on healthy pregnancies. The March of Dimes supported research for surfactant therapy to treat newborn’s respiratory problems, helped initiate a system of regional neonatal intensive care for premature and sick babies and helped dramatically reduce birth defects by encouraging mothers-to-be to take folic acid.

Over the past 10 years, the March of Dimes has focused on preventing the increasing problem of premature births. It launched a multi-year campaign to raise awareness and research the causes. According to the March of Dimes website, the rate of premature births in the U.S. has risen by 36 percent over the past 25 years. Each year, nearly half a million babies, or one in nine, are born too soon.

In San Diego and Imperial Counties in the past year, nearly 8,900 pregnant women received late or no prenatal care. Of the 47,910 babies born, more than 9 percent were born pre-term.

In an effort to prevent such premature births, the March of Dimes funds research to look for its causes. The organization also supports legislation to improve care for moms and babies.

Among the nonprofit’s initiatives making a difference locally:

  • A three-year grant totaling almost $150,000 called the Scripps Mercy Family Practice Residency Program aimed at improving perinatal care for underserved women in the border region.  The grant helps provide education and clinical services to pregnant Latina women in South County. Women receive home visits after their babies are born.
  • A $2,660 grant to help La Maestra Community Health Centers purchase educational materials and resources for a program in central San Diego. The program provides prenatal health education classes to 200 low income women each year.
  • An investment of $500,000 for research by two scientists at the Salk Institute and UCSD to prevent heart defects.
  • A commitment of more than $75,000,000 in support of the Salk Institute since its inception in 1960.

 For more information or to participate, visit the March of Dimes page on InSite.

De Los Reyes is A Woman's Best Friend

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HHSA Child Welfare Services Director Debra Zanders-Willis, left, and 2013 Jay Hoxie Award Winner Charisma De Los Reyes.It’s a wonder Charisma De Los Reyes can find time to sleep.

Besides working as a social worker for the Health and Human Service Agency (HHSA), De Los Reyes has been involved in a seemingly never ending list of community organizations and issues affecting women.

That dedication to her community and causes earned De Los Reyes the annual Jay Hoxie Award, presented to an HHSA child welfare services social worker for commitment to others through volunteering in the community.

“Social workers make a difference in a lot of ways outside of work,” said Kerry Hoxie, the late Jay Hoxie’s mother. “They make a lot of lights shine.”

De Los Reyes’ community involvement:

  • Co-designed curriculum and ran groups for high school girls about preventing date rape and sexual assault;
  • Volunteered with San Diego Youth Services;
  • Trains local organizations on human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children issues;
  • Lead the Purple Rose campaign to bring awareness to the growing numbers of Filipino women victims in sex trafficking;
  • Started Action in Motion to prevent young girls from being victimized by sex trafficking;
  • Organized an international conference in San Diego on sex trafficking prevention;
  • Founding member and current board member of the Mariposa Center for Change;
  • Member of the Gabriela Network for 15 years;
  • Community organizer for 20 years on issues affecting women;
  • Worked with local schools on the issues of date rape and sexual assault;
  • Volunteered with STARS (Surviving Together, Achieving and Reaching for Success) for girls 12-17 involved with commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking;

The other nominees for the award were Carmen Robles, Jennifer Elkins, Jennifer Whitton, Renee Keester-Wellman and Vina Sandal.

The honor is named after Jay Hoxie, an HHSA social worker who died in a tragic car accident in 1990. Hoxie was well known for his generous spirit and community involvement.

Hoxie worked with children who are in foster care or adoptions involving cross-border families. He was touched by the plight of Tijuana’s children who lived in the city’s landfill.

“He became involved with those children and started building a school for them,” said Kerry Hoxie. “He would bring kids to go to the San Diego Zoo when they had free days back then and he’d get a company to donate the bus rides and McDonald’s to give every single child a Happy Meal.”

It's Tweenie Time Again!

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Click image to see larger version.

Teeny, tiny, Tweenie kitties are about to take over our animal shelters and the Department of Animal Services (DAS) needs volunteers to foster them until they’re old enough for adoption. Volunteers as in you as trusty, responsible County employees!

These kittens are called Tweenies because they fall beTWEEN the ages of four and eight weeks. They're not to be confused with the newborn kitties called neonates which need to be bottle-fed round-the-clock. All these little ones typically bury DAS under what it calls “Mt. Kitten” this time of year.

So DAS is sending out an SOS to County employees again this year to help them with the Tweenies to get out from under all that kitty fur!

DAS turns to County employees because they have proven to be wonderful foster parents of Tweenies in the past. The department goes out of its way to make it as easy as possible. It provides food, litter, litter boxes, toys, beds, and of course…the main ingredient…kittens! All shapes, all sizes, all personalities. All you need to do provide is a safe environment, lots of human contact and love.

No bottle feeding is required but foster parents must take at least two kittens because these babies need the companionship of their siblings.

Your stint as a foster parent lasts until the kittens reach eight weeks of age or weigh two pounds. At that stage, the Tweenies go back to the department where they are neutered/spayed, microchipped, vaccinated and placed in the department’s adoption program!

Tweenies usually are adopted out quickly because, of course they are cute, but they are used to people, want to be with people and it shows. That’s how you make the difference.

Now if you happen to fall in love with your Tweenies, you’ll have first dibbs at adoption. The most difficult thing for some foster parents is letting the kittens go!

So if you’d like to help with Mt. Kitten this year, please email our Tweenie Coordinators at any one of the three shelter locations below.

Some furry felines will surely thank you with loud purrs and maybe a sandpaper kiss or two!

NORTH COUNTY REGION (Carlsbad)

Debbie.Licari@sdcounty.ca.gov

Kathleen.King@sdcounty.ca.gov

SAN DIEGO REGION (Gaines St,. Mission Valley)

Kimberlee.Tardy@sdcounty.ca.gov

Vanessa.Brush@sdcounty.ca.gov

SOUTH COUNTY REGION (Bonita)

Bobby.Keith@sdcounty.ca.gov

Janine.Marr@sdcounty.ca.gov

CECO Gives Nearly $183,000 to Charities

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The warm generosity of County employees was on display Thursday, as the San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO) presented grants worth $182,937.99 to dozens of local nonprofits.

In all, 68 programs run by 59 local nonprofits received the funds at a breakfast held at the Spring Valley Community Center. Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox and Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer both spoke at the event.

To watch County News Center’s coverage of the breakfast, click on this link to the video.

The funds will cover such essential services as dental equipment for UCSD Dental Clinic, which provides free services for the underserved; blankets, towels and other items for the Alpha Project for the Homeless; and soccer equipment for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Dieguito.

CECO is staffed and funded by County and Superior Court employees and retirees. Founded in 1956, the group donates 100 percent of the funds it receives to help local nonprofits and County employees and retirees who are in crisis. Donations are voluntary and can be made through automatic payroll deductions or one time contributions.

For more complete information on the grants and recipients, check out CECO’s list. For more information about CECO and what it does, visit its website.

 The CECO Executive Commitee pictured at the awards breakfast Thursday. In the front row (left to right) are Mavette Sadile, Eileen Espinoza, Kristen Lowrey and Tracy Watkins. In the back row (left to right) are Peggy Yamagata, Detra Williams, Dennis Gibson, Beverly Randolph and Shirley Chin.

Serving Others is in His DNA

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Morris Lazard, a Human Services Specialist in the Lemon Grove Family Resource Center, helps raise money to fund a food pantry in his office. The pantry's Top Ramen noodles, granola bars and pudding cups go to clients in extreme need who can't wait a few days for benefits to arrive. It is completely employee-funded.

Morris Lazard makes a point of starting each conversation with his clients at the front window of the Lemon Grove Family Resource Center by asking them, “How can I help you?”

Most are in dire need. Some don’t know where they are going to sleep next or when their next meal will come, said Lazard, a Human Services Specialist for the County’s Health and Human Services Agency.

“By the time they get here, they’re not having a good day,” he said.

From there, his job is to determine if they are eligible for assistance programs such as CalFresh or Medi-Cal. In the relatively short time Lazard has been in this job, he’s had a profound effect on his clients and those around him.   

Lazard is the second County employee to be spotlighted this month, National Ethics Awareness Month, as part of a series of features on employees living the County’s core values of integrity, responsible stewardship and commitment to excellence every day. The County’s Statement of Values details them.

Clients praise him for the respect and kindness that they say he shows in his every day interactions with them. They have nominated him for so many customer service awards through the County’s Serving Everyone with Excellence program that he received a Lifetime Achievement honor through the program in 2012.

Lazard brings to his job a calm demeanor and a good sense of humor. He doesn’t seem to get flustered easily, and yet he has an empathetic, sensitive touch with clients.

He said he makes eye contact and really tries to understand where they are coming from—but also make sure they know he cares. He then acts as their advocate in determining if they are eligible for assistance.  If so, he makes a point of explaining what they need to do to qualify, and why the process is set up the way it is. To qualify for benefits, applicants must produce sensitive personal information such as bank statements and children’s immunization records.

Lazard’s supervisor, Donnis Crayne, said he is particularly good at explaining the eligibility process.

“He slows down and goes into more detailed explanation, the why, why are we asking for this information,” said Crayne, a Supervising Human Services Specialist.

He is so good with people—and enjoys it so much—that he is one of the first to step in and work with new clients who arrive upset or panicked in the lobby in Lemon Grove.

Just five years ago, Lazard was managing a real estate office in Carlsbad, helping people buy homes. But the real estate and mortgage industries started to nose-dive, and he started looking for another job.  One of his relatives worked at the County and highly encouraged him to apply, so he did. Not long after, the County contacted him with this position in mind.

“What a shift” it’s been, he said. “Now I’m dealing with people who don’t have a home, and who are in serious need.”

But in both positions, he’s been able to help people. And that has been immensely gratifying for him.

Turns out, Lazard practically has customer service in his DNA. His father owned a clothing store in downtown San Diego and had a devoted following of customers. From his parents, he learned the value in taking care of people and also the values of honesty, integrity and ethics. He has applied all of them to his work.

Lazard said he tries to treat others the way he would want to be treated.

Lazard started in the job just months before the economy fully plunged into recession. Still, almost five years later, the office is always busy, he said.

He tries to help clients in as few interactions as possible—to save both their time and the County’s. Some days, he staffs the front window. Other days, he has a succession of four, five or six sit down meetings with clients. The meetings may last from five minutes to an hour and 15 minutes each. The variety suits him well.

“I like contact with people—I’m not good at sitting,” he said.

Clients are sometimes hostile when they arrive, expecting an unpleasant experience.  They may anticipate a long wait and even then, not necessarily getting what they came in for. 

Sometimes life has been tough on them, other times they may not have been keeping up with what they needed to do, he said. Or maybe it’s been a mixture of the two.

He aims to make them feel comfortable and understood.

No matter what frustrations Lazard said he is feeling in his own life, he doesn’t let them creep into his interactions with clients.

“The work is challenging, but he faces it cheerfully,” Crayne said.

In addition to his regular duties, Lazard volunteered to serve as president of the FRC’s House Committee. The group’s mission started out as raising money to replace appliances in the shared employee lunch room. But the appliances have kept up, so the focus mostly shifted to creating an in-house food pantry.

Inside cabinets in the lunch room, sit stacks of Cup of Noodles soup, cups of pudding, granola bars, bottled water, diapers and other basics.

This isn’t for the employees. It’s for clients in extreme need, who have absolutely no income or who can’t wait a few days for benefits to arrive.

“They are pleasantly surprised, quite grateful and appreciative,” Lazard said. “Sometimes (they) even shed a tear of happiness knowing they can feed their family for one or two more days until benefits are on their EBT card.”

Lending a Helping Hand

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When you’re a member of the County’s Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT) any call can be kind of “hairy” — you know, dangerous — whether it’s responding to a meth lab, a transformer fire or a mercury spill.

But some calls just end up being unexpectedly hairier than others.

Just ask HIRT’s Amy Paquette.

Hurrying off in the dead of night last month to a call about an explosion in Spring Valley, Paquette ended up giving emergency first aid alongside the freeway to a woman who flipped her car over a median and head-on into oncoming traffic on Highway 94.

Paquette, who’s been with the County for more than 12 years and the Department of Environmental Health’s HIRT team for six, said she was responding to a law enforcement call around 11 p.m. after a guy blew up his apartment while using highly flammable butane gas to turn his marijuana into “honey oil.”

She was actually in her hazmat outfit and just coming off of Interstate 805 onto Highway 94 to head to Spring Valley when she rolled up to the crash scene where she saw two men trying to get the woman out of her wrecked car.

“I must have missed it by seconds,” Paquette said. “I could see her car was facing the wrong way and there were two guys who were trying to pry the car door open. Thankfully, no one hit her head-on.”

No other emergency responders — police or paramedics — had arrived.  Paquette quickly rolled down her window, flipped on the emergency lights on her County hazmat car and yelled out to ask if anyone had called 911 and if they needed first aid help. The men, who were able to get the woman safely out of the car, yelled back that no one had called yet and — yeah! — they needed help!

Paquette called the accident in, grabbed her first aid kit and helped get the woman safely out of the roadway. Paquette said the first thing that came to her mind was gratitude — because the County provides DEH’s HIRT members with first-aid “refresher” training every other year. So Paquette said she felt comfortable knowing she would be able to do something to help.

Fortunately, the woman wasn’t seriously hurt, but did have a number of cuts and was “just freaked out.”

Paquette said she bandaged cuts, applied direct pressure to stop the woman’s bleeding and tended to her for “oh gosh, maybe 15 minutes,” until paramedics arrived and took over. You may be asking, “what about the explosion? What exactly is the protocol if you come upon one disaster while responding to another?”

“That’s a great question,” Paquette said. “I knew my partner was going to the same call, so I called him and said I was going to be late. I knew that sheriff’s were on the scene and I knew somebody had control of the situation.”

Paquette’s experience was actually the second time this year that a County HIRT team member happened upon a car wreck and took control of the scene. In January, HIRT team member Todd Burton was driving home from work and came across a collision between a car and a pool cleaning truck carrying hazardous chemicals. In that incident the drivers didn’t need first aid, but Burton called 911, controlled the scene and took care of the chemical spill.

Hazardous Materials Division Chief Mike Vizzier said he wasn’t surprised by Burton or Paquette’s performance and willingness to do the right thing without hesitation.

“The willingness to do the right thing is one of the things we look for in our HIRT team members,” Vizzier said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We’re lucky to have people like Amy, and to have such a selfless and expert group.”

As for Paquette, she said she was simply happy that she was prepared to help and had the chance to do so.

“Right place, right time, I guess,” she said. “I was just happy to do what I could. I think if anything, I’d give credit to our department, for the training that they give us. Given our training as first responders, it’s our duty to help if we can.”