New Challenges Kasey Knutson distributes critical pandemic information
By KARL HOLAPPA staff writer Staffing the front lines throughout the pandemic has been a gargantuan task, every day holding new challenges for those tasked with the challenge. While some frontline individuals are front and center during the fight, others are getting equally critical work done behind the scenes. Providing accurate, timely and dependable information on the public health aspects of the pandemic has been one of the most critical aspects of the fight against the virus, and Kittitas County Public Health Department Public Information Officer Kasey Knutson has been working overtime during the past year to ensure the information gets delivered to local media outlets, agencies, and residents of Kittitas County. Knutson has been working at KCPHD since October 2008, and she said there’s never been a dull moment in those 13 years. Prior to her time at the department, she said he had no knowledge of public health, nor did she have any intention of working in the field. “I went to school to be a high school English teacher,” she said. “I student taught and decided that wasn’t what I really wanted to do. I started working with at-risk kids who had dropped out of school or were maybe struggling in school, and as a result of that community partnership I met some of the people that worked at public health.” Knutson started her public health career in health promotion, education, and community outreach. She worked on programs including tobacco prevention, child dentistry and immunization work. Since then, she has run the gamut of pretty much every task known to 20
almanac 2021
Kittitas County Health Department Public Information Officer Kasey Knutson stands in from of the health department’s building on North Nanum Street.
the department. “If we have it at health department, I’ve probably dipped my foot in there,” she said. Knutson eventually got into the field of public health emergency preparedness and response, which gave her the first taste of what she now does every day during the pandemic. “That was really where it started with public information,” she said. “I remember the first time I ever made phone calls for an emergency during the Taylor Bridge fire. That’s when I was in training, and it has blossomed since then.” Although the job comes naturally to Knutson at this point, she said it wasn’t always that way, especially in the beginning while she was training for the position. “I remember getting my hand slapped for using the wrong terminology about air quality,” she said. Since taking the lead, Knutson said the most common public information responses from KCPHD prior to the pandemic involved flooding and wildfires. “Sometimes in public health we have
notifications of boil water advisories,” she said. “It’s anything and everything.” PANDEMIC PIVOT Over the last year, the vast majority of the daily workload for Knutson involves pandemic response as part of the county’s Incident Management Team. One characteristic she said many on the IMT share is that they still have other jobs aside from the tasks related to pandemic response. As the Developmental Disabilities Coordinator for KCPHD, she still needs to take on that workload along with that related to the pandemic. “I still have those tasks that I need to complete,” she said. “The majority of my day is COVID-19related. I’m either pushing paperwork through for volunteers because I help assist with that, or I’m writing a press release, or I’m responding to concerns and questions that we have. I live, eat, breathe COVID-19, and I have for a year.” Although things have leveled out a bit as the IMT has gotten into a consistent workflow, Knutson said it was not always that way. “Especially in the beginning, it would be any
