Occupant Load Determination for Retail and Business - and A Thank You

As many cities prepare to start the process of reopening, public safety officials — particularly fire chiefs and fire marshals — are being asked to determine the occupancy load for retail buildings.

The Stay Safe Minnesota directive from May 20 allows for some opening of retail businesses with capacity restrictions and if additional criteria is met, as outlined in Minnesota’s Stay Safe Plan.
 
The Minnesota State Fire Marshal Division is providing helpful guidance. The Occupant Load Determination Information Sheet provides a straightforward process on how this is determined. The second page of the document has an example with a diagram of retail space (including a storage room) and the corresponding calculations.

Additional League of Minnesota Cities resources on COVID-19 can be found here.

You Are Appreciated

Signs of support for the first responder community are continuing to appear on front lawns, billboards, and at EMS, fire, and police stations. Your communities appreciate your work and take comfort in knowing you will respond if they need help. Some of the appreciation is in the form of food, or a thumbs up from a jogger as a police car passes by. Here are a couple of signs I came upon recently.

Up next: More COVID-19 Updates

Stay safe and stay healthy,
Rob

True North Policing

As Minnesota began to experience the COVID-19 epidemic and the “Stay Home MN” executive order went into place, many EMS, fire, and police departments around the state found it necessary to cancel scheduled training, change work schedules, and make adjustments to their models for service delivery.

This was done to limit the number of personnel who could potentially be exposed to COVID-19 and to give departments flexibility if staff became ill or needed to be quarantined. Along with these changes, law enforcement agencies also began to report a decrease in their calls for service, making these very interesting times indeed.

But with changes and challenges also come opportunities. One silver lining in these interesting times is the chance for officers to engage in many of the important online training resources available to them. One of these is a free e-learning course entitled True North Constitutional Policing. 

A cool thing about the True North Constitutional Policing course is that it highlights Minnesota law enforcement, as it was created with the help of 14 Minnesota law enforcement agencies. It’s also approved by the Minnesota POST Board for 5 credit hours toward the required 16 credit hours of education.

Personnel that successfully complete the True North course will earn five mental health credits toward the POST-mandated learning objectives for: Crisis intervention and Mental illness Crisis; Conflict Management and Mediation; and Implicit Bias, Community Diversity, and Cultural Differences.

Some of the things law enforcement officers have said about the True North course:

“It was one of the best five hours of any online training I have experienced.”
– Todd S. Schuster, City of Cambridge Police Chief

“[The training] makes you take a look at yourself. It makes you feel like you’re involved with something bigger than yourself. This is a training that [all law enforcement officers] will learn from.” 
– Brian Vycital, Belle Plaine Officer

“I found the modules easy to follow and of interest. It is great when an organization can take mandated training and make it interesting and meaningful.”
– Greg Weber, City of Eden Prairie Police Chief

Along with highlighting Minnesota law enforcement and providing POST-mandated credits, True North Constitutional Policing also reminds officers about individual integrity, personal accountability, ethical decision-making, and challenges them to remember why they do what they do. These reminders are important at any time, but especially during these most challenging and interesting of times.

For more information and to enroll, go to www.truenorthpolicing.com.
If you need help registering or if you’ve got questions, please contact Admin@Truenorthpolicing.com.

Up next: More COVID-19 Updates

Stay safe and stay healthy,
Rob

Disinfecting Shared Vehicles During COVID-19

I hope you and your fellow responders are staying safe and staying well. These are trying times, and we are doing our best to provide information, answer your questions, and respond to your emails. While the office is empty, we are all working from home and staying caught up.

League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) Loss Control consultant Julie Jelen just posted some helpful information on our public works blog, The Pipeline. The topic is disinfecting shared vehicles during COVID-19.

Most of our responders and crews share vehicles, and disinfecting vehicles is part of the new normal. The blog has a link to a 3-minute video the St. Paul Police Department posted on their procedures for disinfecting their cars.

Here's Julie's post:

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We are all aware that washing hands and disinfecting high-touch surfaces are the two best ways to defend against the spread of the coronavirus. What if you’re sharing city vehicles? How do you know you’re properly destroying the virus to protect yourself and your co-workers?

The key is to not damage those surfaces while disinfecting. According to the CDC, alcohol solutions that contain at least 70 percent alcohol are effective against the coronavirus. Most every surface in a vehicle can be safely cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth. Most EPA-registered household cleaners — such as Lysol Disinfecting Wipes — are also effective.

While wearing your personal protective equipment, clean these frequently touched surfaces:

• steering wheel                                            
• door handles
• arm rests
• shift lever
• buttons or touch screens
• seat adjusters
• wiper and turn signals stalks
• air vents
• seat belt buckles
• grab handles
• door arm rests
• cup holders

Good old soap and water are safe for cleaning the fabric and leather interior. For those vehicles that transport passengers, CaviCide1 is an approved spray that kills the virus within one minute. The St. Paul Police Department has a short YouTube video using this product.

What not to use:

• Do NOT use bleach or hydrogen peroxide inside the car surfaces. They will kill coronaviruses but will likely damage the car’s upholstery, vinyl, and plastics.
• Do NOT use ammonia-based cleaners (blue glass cleaners). They can damage the car touch screen anti-glare and anti-fingerprint coatings. It also breaks down the vinyl on the dash and makes it sticky over time.
• NOTE: Bleach, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, and many household cleaners are adept at killing germs, which is the goal. Just be aware it may potentially fade or damage a vehicle’s interior. Always follow the label instructions on the bottle and safety data sheets on proper PPE when applying these chemicals.

Additional 2.5-minute video on disinfecting your vehicle:

COVID-19 Car Tips: How to Disinfect Your Car, Safely Get Gas, and Use the Drive-Thru (Auto Trader Canada)

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Finally, I wanted to share a chalk drawing that I came upon while out for a walk. There was not a soul around — it was just there.

Up next: More COVID-19 Updates

Keep up the good work, stay safe, and stay healthy,
Rob