Commissioner of the Port Washington-Manhasset Office of Emergency Management, Peter Forman, said he recalls telling his volunteer co-workers years ago that a pandemic would strike, he just didn’t know when.
Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Forman and the Office of Emergency Management staff and volunteers have played an important role throughout Port Washington and Manhasset in responding to the coronavirus.
“I hate being right,” Forman said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “We’ve lived through the Spanish flu, the plague and other pandemics, so statistically speaking, it was bound to happen again.”
The Office of Emergency Management has served the areas of Port Washington and Manhasset for around nine years, according to Forman. The organization is a coalition of villages and the Town on the peninsula. Its mission is to serve the community before, during and after emergencies and important civic events.
Forman said the first large-profile emergency that the organization dealt with was Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It was then that the organization was able to show how instrumental it could be in ensuring the safety of the residents it serves.
“People depended on us for mass notifications and communication services,” Forman said. “We were an early adapter to that type of technology, which is called NorthShoreAlert.org. We use the alert system to communicate with residents, who can sign up for the service at no charge.”
The organization has been helping first responders, hospitals, and villages with various levels of personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, face shields, sanitizer and surgical masks. One of the more shocking requests came from a local hospital, Forman said.
“A representative from a local hospital said we were doing such a great job with the PPE provisions and asked if we could provide them with body bags,” Forman said. “We jumped into action, found an out-of-state supplier, quickly built a relationship with them, and had them overnight shipped and then handed them over to the hospital that day.”
Forman said the organization has been getting calls from residents who did not have masks and delivered them to their doorsteps if needed. The organization has also helped local municipalities by going through their social distancing and safety procedures.
According to Forman, funding for the personal protective equipment donations is a combination of monetary donations from the public, along with the organization’s budget. Forman also offered a special “shout out” of thanks to the Port Washington Public Library for their 3-D printed face shields.
“Part of the success of the [Office of Emergency Management] is the brain trust that is the product of all the mayors, trustees, emergency managers, and volunteers of the participating villages,” Forman said.
That brain trust was on display, Forman said, during a meeting in mid-to-late January at the organization’s war room. Forman said that the meeting exemplified the value that the organization and all municipalities bring to the table.
“A crisis is a terrible time to meet people in other organizations with whom you need to work,” Forman said. “We discussed topics of preparations for PPEs and emphasized, long before it became a media topic, the need for each municipality to operate with limited staff.”
Aside from being the organization’s commissioner, he is also the deputy mayor of Sands Point and chief police commissioner of the Sands Point Police Department.
Forman touted the people he works with on the Police Department.
“I’m highly honored to be the chief police commissioner,” Forman said. “The Sands Point Police Department is truly a superb group of individuals who are very dedicated to serving the Sands Point community and do so in a supremely qualified way.”
Unfortunately for the department, the coronavirus took the life of one of its officers, Joe Spinosa, more than a month ago. While the department was not able to honor Spinosa in a traditional manner, Forman said, a procession and motorcade was conducted from NYU Winthrop Hospital, past his mother’s house in Hicksville, and ended up at the funeral home.
“Never ever did I think we would lose one of our own,” Forman said.
Though the virus has altered the collective realities of everyone throughout and beyond the Port Washington Peninsula, Forman said, the Office of Emergency Management, Sands Point Police Department and officials from all the villages will continue to advocate battle to keep residents safe.
