LAPSA President Lennie Upshaw presents a plaque to Dr. Sara Pasqualoni on behalf of the Los Alamos Public Safety Association. Photo Courtesy LAPSA
LAPD Cmdr. Oliver Morris presents a plaque to Dr. Beth Lindquist on behalf of the Los Public Safety Association. Photo Courtesy LAPSA
The plaque presented to LANL Medical Director Dr. Sara Pasqualoni by LAPSA. Photo Courtesy LAPSA
The plaque presented to Dr. Beth Lindquist by LAPSA in recognition of outstanding public service for a fellow citizen. Photo Courtesy LAPSA
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
The Los Alamos Public Safety Association has presented Public SafetyDedication Awards to Dr. Beth Lindquist and Dr. Sara Pasqualoni, Medical Director for Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dr. Beth Lindquist was nominated for her award by Los Alamos Police Department Cmdr. Oliver Morris, a member of the LAPSA executive committee. The nomination reads as follows:
On August 5,2020, a 73 year old White Rock resident went on a hike around noon near the Red Dot trail or Blue Dot trail. When he did not return home in two hours as usual, his family called the Los Alamos Consolidated Dispatch Center. A search party comprised of Los Alamos Police Department, Los Alamos Fire Department and Classic Air Medical attempted to the locate the missing hiker. After several hours of searching, another hiker, Beth Lindquist, came upon the missing person who was dehydrated, disoriented and injured from a fall.
Ms. Lindquist gave the man water and led him to first responders who treated his injuries and assisted him out of the Canyon on the Red Dot Ttrail at around 8 p.m. The family of the hiker expressed their extreme gratitude to Lindquist for locating their father and husband as they began to fear the worst.
Your assistance to Public Safety in our Community goes beyond expectation and we want to thank you for your efforts.
Dr. Sara Pasqualoni was nominated by Lennie Upshaw, Centerra Los Alamos General Manager and President of the LAPSA Executive Committee, and reads as follows:
As the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Medical Director, Dr. Pasqualoni has worked diligently and tirelessly to protect the health and safety of all LANL personnel since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning stages of the pandemic, she had the vision and foresight to establish and chair a LANL Pandemic Advisory Team (PAT), hosting weekly WebEx meetings to keep the LANL senior leadership and Mission Essential Function leaders apprised of current LANL status, updates to CDC guidance, predictive modeling, status of cases throughout the state, along with appropriate personal protective equipment and precautionary measures needed to keep the LANL workforce safe and healthy. She worked with the Emergency Management Division to establish a LANL COVID-19 hotline, ensuring it was staffed with appropriate medical professionals, and ensured consistent and current guidance was provided on self-isolation requirements and cleaning/decontamination of affected workplaces. Furthermore, she was instrumental in establishing a COVID-19 testing program at LANL, with results typically available in 36 hours or less, to ensure mission essential personnel and all employees working on site are tested regularly to detect and prevent further spread of the virus. Dr. Pasqualoni has tirelessly assisted the Emergency Operations Staff by taking calls seven days a week, 24 hours a day to determine close contacts of presumptive and/or positive cases and ensure appropriate measures were implemented to contain the potential COVID-19 spread. Dr. Pasqualoni has taken special efforts to ensure the health and safety of the Protective Force, Firefighters and other first responders on LANL. She has on numerous occasions personally directed the response efforts for cases impacting these first responders, providing cleaning/decontamination efforts, appropriate guidance on self-isolation, and follow up testing to ensure the health and safety of the workforce while working to minimize the impacts to mission essential staffing needs. Dr. Pasqualoni championed the LANL senior leadership to prioritize resources and efforts in support of the Protective Force and Firefighters so these organizations could continue to meet their 24/7 mission requirements. Her tireless efforts continue to have a significant positive impact on the LANL workforce in general and first responders and other mission essential workers specifically. Dr. Pasqualoni has proven to be an invaluable leader and asset for the LANL community; her dedication, care, and concern for the safety and health of others is worthy of emulation and recognition and is greatly appreciated.
The purpose of the Los Alamos Public Safety Association is to create a forum for senior managers who are actively involved in public safety-related positions within the Los Alamos Region to meet, discuss areas of mutual interest, recognize accomplishments in the public safety arena, and consider such actions as may be in the mutual interest of the group to improve and coordinate public safety activities.