COVID-19 Assistance

In these uncharted waters that Pennsylvania has been treading with the COVD-19 pandemic, members of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have been assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Emergency Management (PEMA) with the administration of Community Based Testing Sites (CBTS) in Montgomery County and Luzerne County. To many people this may come as a surprise because we are seen as “tree people”, but what some may not know is that one of DCNR’s mandates is to handle wildland fire on public and private lands across the Commonwealth. These obligations put certain employees in the unique position to help with the pandemic response.

Courtesy of John Hecker

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have had 32 separate single resources assigned to help the citizens of Pennsylvania. These assignments range from Incident Commander of a testing site to assisting local counties, to personnel delivering desperately needed supplies to hospitals.

Montgomery County set up its testing site with assistance from many local, state, and private partners. However, they were dealing with many other issues that were related to COVID-19 in addition to their normal workloads, so they turned to PEMA for an Incident Management Team. PEMA also had an increased workload and requested assistance and support from the DCNR Bureau of Forestry. While the Bureau was in its historically high wildfire danger season, this was a wet year and DCNR was able to send staff.

Courtesy of John Hecker

“I have received letters of support and encouragement for this mission not only from my supervisors but also form Secretary Dunn and her staff,” said John Hecker, Incident Commander of the Montgomery County testing site, “I believe this mission is supported at the highest levels in state and local governments. In times of a national crisis like this, it has been amazing to see the very willing cooperation and involvement of so many agencies.”

Courtesy of John Hecker

Safety is first in doing this work, just as it is on wildfires. DCNR has a standing order on all wildfires, “to fight fire aggressively but to provide for safety first.” The same rules apply to the testing sites. According to Hecker, on-site there many experts that help isolate the risks through proper hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE). Those who are ill and visiting the site for testing are instructed to stay in their vehicles and only briefly when completing the tests can roll their windows down. Team members are given proper PPE and given the opportunity to test for infection prior to leaving the site at the end of their assignment. The infection rate here has been very low for staff, despite having approximately 60 or more people working here each day in one of Pennsylvania’s hot spots.

Courtesy of John Hecker

“DCNR has a long history dealing with large scale incidents,” said Chad Northcraft, Incident Management Specialist with the Bureau of Forestry, Division of Forest Fire Protection. “In the past, it was mainly wildland fire incidents, but for the past several years we have been utilized for All-Hazard incidents such as this. Many of our staff are specially trained and nationally qualified in ICS positions [Incident Command System - a standardized structure that allows for an organized and coordinated response to an emergency, without compromising the decision-making authority of local authorities]. The experience and qualifications that these people bring to the table set the Commonwealth up for success when taking on such an assignment.”

Courtesy of John Hecker

DCNR has two Type III Incident Management Teams made up of Command and General Staff – the positions responsible for taking charge of all aspects of the response - along with several position-specific resources that can be utilized during an incident. Generally, these teams respond to one large incident where the entire team is needed, along with several small incidents where only a few people
will be needed, each year. The people that respond to these types of incidents have hundreds of hours of training, most of which they have taken upon themselves to get. The DCNR supports team members in gaining more experience and leadership by sending hundreds of incident command staff and firefighters each year to assist other states in wildfire and disaster response. Team members don’t come from one job classification; the teams have people from across the Bureau along with some retirees and volunteers.

Courtesy of John Hecker

When asked what the similarities and differences are between a typical fire assignment and this assignment helping with testing centers, Hecker indicated many similarities.

“We are coordinating a team and enlisting partners to help fight a common enemy,” stated Hecker. “Normally its wildfire but here it's fighting a virus through testing. We still have a need to coordinate many community partners and organizations into a safe and effective organization, just like on a wildfire. The same organizational structures and processes that are used for effective and coordinated wildfire response work whether it’s a team of firefighters or a team of medics and first responders. Safety, planning, public information, and logistical support are all still necessary for effective operations. Here we are just working in a county with a million people and staying in hotels instead of in a remote forest camping in a tent.”

Courtesy of John Hecker

The testing centers are available for the public, first responders and medical staff to use in the hardest-hit areas of Pennsylvania. The site in Montgomery County is one of 37 federally assisted community-based testing sites across the country. The testing offered at these sites is free and it’s a way to get tested for those who suspect they have a COVID-19 infection, but who are not critical enough to require medical care. According to Hecker, so far at the Montgomery County sites, they have been successfully testing 250 people per day and almost 8,000 worried people since opening. That is a lot of helpful relief and knowledge in one of the hardest-hit areas of Pennsylvania.

Courtesy of John Hecker

According to Hecker these tests also give epidemiologists necessary data to better manage this crisis. Results from these testing sites provide a look at infection rates in the broader population who has COVID-19 but does not necessarily end up in the hospital. This information helps our state and national government officials decide better when to get people and our economy back to work. Our leaders say more testing will be necessary for the future as we all start to get back to more normal work patterns.

Courtesy of John Hecker

“I think the individuals who assisted should feel good about taking this risk,” said Shawn Turner, Incident Commander at the Luzerne County testing center. Turner had started out in the planning section for the Montgomery County testing center. “Site safety is number one and was a shared value of all those who worked there.”

Courtesy of John Hecker

Something that really struck Turner while being on this assignment was seeing the compassion of those working on the site to the public they were serving. When asked why he wanted to help at the testing centers Turner said that he felt that it was important to help our state partners in this time of need.

Courtesy of Shawn Turner

For Hecker it was seeing a steady stream of 250 cars a day coming through the site, many of them very worried, and knowing that they can be helped through testing is very rewarding.

“I think also the support of the local communities for the work being done here is really overwhelming sometimes,” Hecker said. “At both sites, we had community members put up signs of support and encouragement for test-takers and for staff. We couldn't accept, but we had a couple people and restaurants at both sites offer to buy the entire camp lunch. That’s more than 60 people. We had one dear person offer to buy enough Girl Scout cookies for everyone and another day on a warm afternoon someone offered to bring us all milkshakes. Another gentleman heard there may be shortages of masks for medical workers, so he went and cleaned out all the masks he had in his garage and offered to give them to us. Just amazing the kindness and generosity of people have shown us.”

Courtesy of Shawn Turner

The testing appointment website opens every day at 8:00 am and most days it is booked solid in the first hour. People are encouraged to register early to get in.

“I’m proud of being part of an agency and an organization that can be a significant partner in helping to bring this crisis to an end in Pennsylvania,” stated Hecker. “Our years of training and experience at DCNR and nationally in some of our nation’s largest wildfires and natural disasters is what makes us useful at this time. No one likes to see a large disaster but being able to help at times like this makes all the training and time spent preparing worthwhile."

Courtesy of John Hecker

“The dedication and professionalism of these people are unmatched,” said Northcraft. “Many times, the situation they are agreeing to respond to is disorganized and chaotic. Members as a team do a remarkable job of bringing the much-needed organization to that chaos. None of what they do is required of them, they are individuals that like assisting those in need and the challenge that comes with it.”


Katalynn Dildine
Wildland Fire Operations Technician, Division of Forest Fire Protection
PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry