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Home My WebLink About2021-10-11 CHC PacketAgenda Community Health Commission City Of Edina, Minnesota Edina Public Works Multi-Purpose Room Monday, October 11, 2021 6:30 PM I.Call To Order II.Roll Call III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes A.Minutes: Community Health Commission, September 13, 2021 V.Community Comment During "Community Comment," the Board/Commission will invite residents to share relevant issues or concerns. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. The Chair may limit the number of speakers on the same issue in the interest of time and topic. Generally speaking, items that are elsewhere on tonight's agenda may not be addressed during Community Comment. Individuals should not expect the Chair or Board/Commission Members to respond to their comments tonight. Instead, the Board/Commission might refer the matter to sta% for consideration at a future meeting. VI.Reports/Recommendations A.Vitals App Report B.Subcommittee Updates VII.Chair And Member Comments VIII.Sta* Comments IX.Adjournment The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing ampli/cation, an interpreter, large-print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861 72 hours in advance of the meeting. MINUTES Community Health Commission September 13, 2021 at 6:30 PM City Hall, Community Room I.Call To Order II.Roll Call Present: Julia Selleys, Greg Wright, Rob Loesch, Michael Wood, Andrew Hawkins, Tracy Nelson, Philip King-Lowe, Mary Absolon, Ellie Mullen, Ben Hykes A.Introductions - New Members First Meeting III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion by Greg Wright to approve meeting agenda. Seconded by Andrew Hawkins. Motion Carried. IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes A.Approve August 9, 2021 Meeting Minutes Motion by Andrew Hawkins to approve August 9, 2021 meeting minutes. Seconded by Rob Loesch. Motion Carried. V.Community Comment VI.Reports/Recommendations A.2022 Work Plan Revisions and Approval Commission drafted and approved 2022 work plan to be submitted to City Council for approval. Motion by Tracy Nelson to approve draft 2022 Community Health Commission Work Plan. Seconded by Greg Wright . Motion Carried. B.Statement of Support Motion made to approve statement from Community Health Commission regarding safety in City parks. Statement: Relative to the recent death of the 2 year old autistic child in Edina: The Edina Community Health Commission supports efforts of the Edina City Council and staff to examine safety measures to prevent future similar accidents. VII.Chair And Member Comments VIII.Staff Comments IX.Adjournment Date: October 11, 2021 Agenda Item #: VI.A. To:Community Health Commission Item Type: Report and Recommendation From:Philip King-Lowe Item Activity: Subject:Vitals App Report Information CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: INTRODUCTION: Vitals App report for consideration by the Community Health Commission for potential submission to City Council. ATTACHMENTS: Description Vitals App Report Date: September 8, 2021 To: City Council From: Health Commission Subject: Community Health Commission Recommendations on the Vitals App for the City of Edina Situation: Social connectedness of City of Edina Public Safety personal with people who are neurodivergent or have mental or physical health issues. Action Requested: The Edina Community Health Commission requests that the Mayor and City Council consider using the Vitals App in the Edina Police Department, Fire Department and EMT Services. Background: The Vitals App is an electronic system that can help Police officers, Firefighters and EMT’s have access to information about who they may be dealing with. It requires a device in each of the departments that has been activated. Autistic Individuals and others with various medical or mental health conditions can purchase a beacon. They can then get a $5.00 a month subscription. The beacons cost $20.00 and can fit on their belts or shoes, or even in their pockets. They can also purchase a beacon on a wrist band for an additional $40.00. Then the people who have purchased the beacons and gotten a subscription can fill out a profile on their phones. In the profiles they can write as much or as little information they wish about who they are, what their condition(s) might be, along with other important information about how the responders can help them in a crisis situation. The users can supply medication information. They can give emergency contact information. In the profiles, the users can tell those reading them how they can de- escalate a problem by keeping their voices down. If an Autistic person is experiencing a sensory overload or anxiety meltdown, they may have provided information as to what the Officers can do or should not do. Once the local departments have the device activated and the users filled out their profiles, when an officer is within 80 miles of the individual with the beacon, they will be alerted on their mobile equipment and have access to that information upon contact. The Vitals App can also be very helpful to individuals with dementia their families and any memory care facilities or nursing homes. Devices can be obtained to be sure that the person with dementia is fitted with a beacon. Should the individual walk away and get lost, the beacon can help their families and other local officials locate them and return them to safety. The cost of the Vitals App would be about $7900 annually for the City of Edina. Page 2 Assessment: It is very important that our Police department, Fire department and EMT’s have access to crucial information when they are dealing with someone who is Autistic, with other physical or mental health conditions. Each individual with a disability that might impact their ability to interact with a Police officer who has a lot of authority, should be able to depend on the officer to act with concern for their safety as well as that of the general public. The public safety personal needs as much information as they can get so they can help de-escalate a situation before it becomes a major problem. Many Autistic individuals and others with mental disabilities such as anxiety disorders, PTSD, bipolar, depression, schizophrenia or any others have had very negative experiences with local Police Departments and EMTs. In some cases, disabled individuals have been mistaken for being potentially violent, and it resulted in an officer having to use force, before doing all they can to de-escalate the issue. In September 2019, a young Autistic man was experiencing a sensory overload and meltdown. He was living with his grandmother. A local neighbor called the police with a complaint of a domestic disturbance. Upon entering the residence, they witnessed the Autistic man swinging a hammer. Rather than using less drastic measures to de-escalate the situation, the officer(s) shot and killed the young man. If the officer(s) had had the right kind of information about the young man, the lethal outcome could have been avoided. As part of our assessment, we contacted other metro area cities that are using the Vitals app. We asked how the cities what was and was not going well with the app, if they felt it was a good financial investment, what the community response was to the app, and if the city planned to continue using the Vitals app. In addition, we asked about how cities implemented the use of the Vitals app. Of the seven cities contacted five plan to continue using the app. Please see the attached table for the full results. Recommendation: Our recommendation is to read and review this report. In addition to consider having the City of Edina first responders utilize the Vitals app. One thought was that the cost of this app could be covered by the American Rescue Plan funds. Page 3 Additional comments from research and conversations with other Cities. One suggestion was to see if a civil organization might assist residents in obtaining and subsidizing the cost of the subscriptions. Captain Reed, Plymouth Police Department, shared about an incident where the Vitals App helped the Police locate an individual with dementia when they went walking around. The Vitals App alerted the Police when they were close enough to him and they were able to return him safely. To gain subscribers, the City of Plymouth had several community meetings at various elderly care facilities, where the Vitals App explained to administrative staff and nursing staff to learn about the Vitals App. The City also held community meetings where the Vitals App explains how the app worked to autistic individuals and parents with autistic children. Plymouth is also looking into working with mental health organizations to have the vitals apps put on the collars of service animals. One of the other concerns that was shared is that the local Police and other Safety personnel will need to have the right smartphones with Bluetooth to be able to detect the beacons. It was a cost to the department to update their equipment. Lastly, with Crystal being the only exception, all the other municipalities reported that even though they do not have any incidents to report on the App being used, they do feel that keeping the App is very important. Edina Community Health Commission. Vitals App Survey Report Richfield Bloomington St. Louis Park Hopkins Golden Valley Crystal Plymouth The App is working well. Yes NI Yes Yes Yes No Yes The App is not working well. (No means no there are no problems)No NI No No No Yes No Is the App a good financial investment for the City:Yes NI Yes Yes Yes No Yes Gives an example of an incident where the app was useful No No No No No No Yes Had a good response from the community Yes NI Yes Yes Yes No Yes Plans to keep the app in their municipality Yes Maybe Yes Yes Yes No Yes