 |
A view of Cedarbrook Apartments from the Park. Senior residences are among Plainfield's tallest structures. |
Tall buildings offer unique challenges to public safety officials. Especially tall buildings that house special populations like Senior Citizens.
Older tenants may have health and mobility concerns that make constant availability of power an issue, and for whom non-working elevators mean being imprisoned far from the ground and safety.
So, when tenants reported a power outage at Cedarbrook Apartments to emergency officials early Saturday evening, Plainfield's first responders were at the site within minutes.
Those responding included the Plainfield Police Division, Union County Police, the Fire Division (Deputy Chief McCue, Battalion Commander 3, Engine Co. 3, towers, lights and generators), Elizabeth EMS, Plainfield Rescue Squad, JFK Ambulance and EMTs, and the Union County OEM.
The building's offices were locked up tight when first responders arrived. A call by tenants association president Beverly Calland to the manager at home helped officials determine where a list of residents with special needs (such as oxygen) was kept, and a building maintenance man was able to open the office where the binder was kept.
Problem is that the information in the binder was not up to date: some people on the list had moved away, some had moved elsewhere in the building, and some were deceased.
Safety officials were finally able to determine which residents were using oxygen and assisted two who were having problems.
On the insistence of public safety officials, the manager finally from her home in the Freehold area up to Plainfield to be of assistance.
Union County Police made floor-by-floor checks of the building every hour until power was restored.
Two PSE&G crews were needed and dug for hours to determine the source of the problem (a broken cable that supplies a transformer for the building).
Power was finally restored to the building at 6:09 AM.
Many thanks to all our first responders for bringing the incident to a safe conclusion.
But we are still left with the question of just who is responsible for keeping the records on special needs tenants updated, and how can the City enforce the requirement effectively?
In addition, is it proper for a managment representative of a large building (120 units) to treat the job as 9-5, Mon-Fri?
Is this also the case in our other high-rise Senior residences?
Older tenants may have health and mobility concerns that make constant availability of power an issue, and for whom non-working elevators mean being imprisoned far from the ground and safety.
So, when tenants reported a power outage at Cedarbrook Apartments to emergency officials early Saturday evening, Plainfield's first responders were at the site within minutes.
Those responding included the Plainfield Police Division, Union County Police, the Fire Division (Deputy Chief McCue, Battalion Commander 3, Engine Co. 3, towers, lights and generators), Elizabeth EMS, Plainfield Rescue Squad, JFK Ambulance and EMTs, and the Union County OEM.
The building's offices were locked up tight when first responders arrived. A call by tenants association president Beverly Calland to the manager at home helped officials determine where a list of residents with special needs (such as oxygen) was kept, and a building maintenance man was able to open the office where the binder was kept.
Problem is that the information in the binder was not up to date: some people on the list had moved away, some had moved elsewhere in the building, and some were deceased.
Safety officials were finally able to determine which residents were using oxygen and assisted two who were having problems.
On the insistence of public safety officials, the manager finally from her home in the Freehold area up to Plainfield to be of assistance.
Union County Police made floor-by-floor checks of the building every hour until power was restored.
Two PSE&G crews were needed and dug for hours to determine the source of the problem (a broken cable that supplies a transformer for the building).
Power was finally restored to the building at 6:09 AM.
Many thanks to all our first responders for bringing the incident to a safe conclusion.
But we are still left with the question of just who is responsible for keeping the records on special needs tenants updated, and how can the City enforce the requirement effectively?
In addition, is it proper for a managment representative of a large building (120 units) to treat the job as 9-5, Mon-Fri?
Is this also the case in our other high-rise Senior residences?
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment