ATSSA Signal July/August 2020

The Signal | July/August 2020 7 COVID-19 In addition to addressing their normal duties, some members pitched in to assist with the response. A group within the Anne Arundel County, Md. govern- ment quickly adjusted its workspace and operations to become that juris- diction’s distribution point for key supplies such as masks, gowns, gloves, and hand sanitizer. A Virginia Department of Transporta- tion (VDOT) employee deployed to New York City for the difficult, but essential duty of helping deal with the flood of bodies as COVID-19 took its toll on the hardest hit area of the country. And companies such as 3M provided assistance by producing items for health care professionals and the sickest patients. ATSSA focused its attention on taking steps to help members remain fully operational, while sending its staff home to telework on March 18. In addition to advocating with state lead- ers on behalf of members’ job duties, ATSSA shifted its training options to meet members’ needs amid the new operating conditions. The Association created virtual training for two of its members’ most-needed courses—Traffic Control Technician (TCT) and Traffic Control Supervisor (TCS)—so they could keep people fully prepared for their duties. Plus, it made modifi - cations to meet state-specific require - ments. Those live, instructor-led courses were crucial as members remained on the job across the country with many states taking advantage of the light traffic to tackle roadway projects. Nearly every state, in fact, recognized the opportunity to safely undertake work without the normal challenge of scheduling to avoid snarling traffic. ATSSA also began offering courses on human resources and workplace safety issues in response tomember requests. That fully online curriculum started with the timely release of a course on “Acute Respiratory Illness Pandemics: Prevention and Response.” In recogni- tion of members’ needs, ATSSA offered the course for free and will continue doing that through the end of the year. Hundreds of people completed it within the first weeks. The pandemic’s long-term impacts remain unknown. In the meantime, ATSSA and its members continue adjust- ing to make the best of the situation. ATSSA launched virtual Town Halls in mid-April, kicking them off with one focused on the state and federal response to the coronavirus and potential infrastructure investments. A second one followed on ATSSA’s adaptation to virtual training to meet member needs amid travel restrictions. From there, the advocacy Town Halls moved to the virtual format on the chapter level. Chapters also started holding remote online meetings of boards and full chapters. Member advocacy remained a focus in May as ATSSA joined with 70 other groups in reaching out to President Donald Trump to advocate for infrastruc- ture funding to help spur an economic rebound.  To reach Pamela Gould, pamela.gould@atssa.com .