PAOLA — Mark Whelan was busy on a cold morning in late January directing traffic inside a large room as pallets were wheeled across a floor where barred cells were once anchored in cement.
Legacy Contractors of Paola recently transformed the former Miami County Jail next to the courthouse on South Pearl Street into a county storage facility. The remodeled, freshly painted former jail is now home to pallets and pallets of personal protective equipment (PPE) which is available for local businesses at no cost.
“Supplies are available for any business based in Miami County,” said Whelan, emergency management coordinator with the Miami County Sheriff’s Office.
Whelan said any business that needs supplies can either email him at [email protected], or use this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLqCKDLxHI5wXjq1PK1FbNwNIt0cg2fbMzWuleJ0erkfnVtw/viewform?usp=sf_link
PPE supplies currently available include:
- N95 masks — public safety/health care
- KN95 masks
- Three-ply masks
- Surgical masks Level 1 and 3
- Level 1 child masks
- Alginate child mask (washable)
- Hanes cloth masks
- Isolation gowns
- Washable gowns
- Disposable gowns
- Disinfectant wipes (500 and 600 sheet buckets, canisters and soft packs. Soft packs and canisters are for daycare providers)
- Spray disinfectant
- Hand sanitizer (3.3 ounces, 8 ounces and 1 gallon)
- Foaming soap (1 gallon, very limited supply)
- Paper towels (600 center pull rolls and store brand)
- Toilet paper (mostly for daycare)
- All-purpose cleaners with and without bleach. Some pine and lemon scent available.
On Jan. 21, a crew from Two Men and a Truck moving company wheeled pallets of PPE across the floor of the new storage facility to locations selected by Whelan, who was organizing PPE into categories for future distribution.
The county has been gathering and distributing PPE since receiving its first shipment from the Kansas Department of Emergency Management (KDEM) in late March 2020.
The first significant shipment was delivered April 5, which contained surgical gowns, face shields and N95 masks that were distributed to health care providers and emergency services, Whelan said.
Shipments of three-ply masks and disinfectant began about a month later on May 1, he said.
And that was just the beginning as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rack up more cases.
“We began receiving SPARK-funded PPE and cleaning supplies in mid-August through the end of 2020,” Whelan said in an email. “Well over 1.25 million pieces of PPE and cleaning supplies have been delivered to emergency services, health care facilities, schools, daycare centers and location businesses as of Dec. 31.”
In the first weeks of the new year, more than 100 orders of PPE had been picked up by Jan. 25, with more orders scheduled or waiting to be picked up before month’s end.
SPARK funding spent thus far on PPE for Miami County is about $1.3 million, Whelan said.
Since the pandemic began, a number of businesses, agencies and others have donated PPE and supplies, Whelan said. They include: Patterson Family Foundation, Good Spirits Distilling, Holladay Distillery with HTH International, Lakemary Center, many small businesses and residents, Kansas Department of Emergency Management and Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Whelan said supplies have been purchased from Queens Price Chopper, MoMed Supplies, Life Assist, Bulk Office Supply, PH&S Gloves, Fully Promoted and Amazon.
