Murrysville-Export Rotary donates cots to emergency management team

The Rotary’s motto is “People Helping People.” So when Murrysville-Export Rotary President John Hartman heard that a longtime law enforcement friend needed some help, he was ready to go.

Both Hartman and Murrysville Police Capt. Chuck Tappe underwent police training together. But neither was anticipating the need that arose.

“Last September, our team had to set up a temporary shelter for the Murrysville Wellness Center,” said Tappe, who is also the coordinator for the Murrysville Export Emergency Management Agency. “They had a generator fire and no power. We opened our shelter at Murrysville Alliance Church, and we were ready for 120 people.”

What they weren’t ready for was a sizable number of patients for whom a traditional cot would not work.

“We didn’t realize that for the special-needs folks, a lot couldn’t lay flat on your average cot,” Tappe said.

When the Rotary was presenting a recent community service award to Murrysville Alliance Pastor Dan Lawrence, Hartman and Tappe got to talking about the emergency management agency.

“He mentioned the budgetary restraints they had,” Hartman said. “These are the types of projects that we like to give to, and it’s where we have some experience.”

Hartman said it took “about 2 milliseconds” for the Rotary board to approve about $1,400 to purchase 10 of the cots, which angle upward for an elevated head and backrest and have handrails and storage bags on the sides.

“In the history of my experience as a police officer, I didn’t know of these cots, didn’t even know they existed,” Hartman said. “We were happy and excited about being able to provide them.”

Tappe, who took over his position with the emergency management team in 2018, said he hopes to draw more attention to the work it does.

“We’ve tried to get a lot of public exposure,” he said. “The general public really doesn’t know that if there’s a disaster, we’re ready to go. We have a team, we have a veterinarian who can help with folks’ pets.”

The emergency management team opened Murrysville Alliance as a warming center during a severe cold snap in late January 2019.

Tappe said he couldn’t be more pleased about the new cots.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It’s a good start. We probably need more, but I don’t want to be greedy.”

Tappe said anyone interested in volunteering with the emergency management agency can email him at ctappe@murrysvillegov.org.