COVID-19 Pandemic Could Have Lasting Impact On First Responder Protocol

Protocol 19.

When Mills County’s first responders – EMTs, law enforcement and fire and rescue – hear that call come across their scanners, they know exactly what it means.

An individual with either a confirmed or presumptive case of COVID-19 has requested assistance.

And with that call comes a set of guidelines and procedures that, without a viable vaccine currently nor any signs of the outbreak slowing, is likely here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Mills County’s first responders have been following the Mills County Public Health essential services guidelines that went out March 17. Those protocols call for all personnel in a potential exposure call to wear personal protection equipment (PPE) – mask, face shield, gloves and in some situations, a disposable hazardous material-type coverall – and maintain a six-foot distance wherever possible.

With 31 confirmed positive cases, Mills County has not been a COVID-19 hot spot during the pandemic. But cases statewide continue to rise and the virus is still very much an on-going public health crisis. And first responders are taking no chances.

Typically, dispatchers at the Mills County 911 Center screen callers with a series of questions to determine if it’s possible the caller is symptomatic of coronavirus. Dispatch then pages the requisite first responders and passes on the information that there’s a risk of possible exposure.

Mills County Public Health also keeps a running list of positive cases in the county and shares that updated list with all the relevant area agencies.

Glenwood Volunteer Fire Department Chief Matt Gray said his department has gone out on several calls where COVID-19 symptoms were present.

Like many, Gray’s department has adopted a policy of “treat every call as an exposure.” 

“We wear gloves on every call,” Gray said. “Dispatch will ask questions pertaining to COVID when the caller calls 911.  If any symptoms are noted or suspected we will wear full PPE. We continue to monitor our policies and update them on recommendation from the state.”

As a result of the preventative health and procedural changes, many departments, including Glenwood had to alter or change some protocols and limit interactions in the firehouse. Meetings, trainings, and public education gatherings were all cancelled or moved to a virtual format. Since the shelter-in-place went into effect, GVFD has relied on social media for public education and online meetings and training options. 

At the Glenwood Police Department, Chief Eric Johansen said his officers have had a “couple” of occasions where they’ve interacted with individuals with presumptive or unconfirmed cases of COVID-19 but he cannot recall a single occasion his department has had to responded to a residence with a confirmed case.

“We took extra precautions there but other than that, no we haven’t had very many exposures, per say, we’re aware of,” Johansen said.

To minimize potential exposures, Johansen’s department was taking non-emergency reports over the phone. The department’s offices just recently opened its door to the public last week. If a call does require a physical response, officers wear masks and maintain a six-foot social distancing bubble whenever possible while interacting with the community.

“All officers have been issued masks and we encourage them to wear them when they don’t know the caller’s medical status,” Johansen said. “Dispatch has a protocol in place so if we do know there’s been a known exposure we get a heads up so we can make sure we’re wearing the proper PPE before we respond to a call.”

All law enforcement officers in the county carry masks, gloves, face shields and disposable coverall/hazmat suits in their vehicles in the event they know for a fact there is a positive case they are responding to.

At the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Josh England said dispatch calls were definitely down during the quarantine when residents were encouraged to stay home and many non-essential businesses were shuttered.

“Usually, when people are stuck at home, that’s when our domestic (violence calls) and stuff like that go up because people are tired of being at home but believe it or not, it was relatively slow during the stay-at-home order,” England said.

England added deputies were limiting traffic stops to major violations during the pandemic to minimize contact with the community but they have since resumed normal patrols. Deputies, however, are not required to wear masks.
Johansen agreed, police calls did drop during the quarantine. With the arrival of summer and the easing of restrictions on public gathering and accessing bars and restaurants, however, Johansen added dispatch calls are returning to pre-quarantine numbers.

“Summer is definitely here and we’ve had several calls of injuries, that could be because the restrictions have been lifted and people want to get back to normal and the summer heat in and of itself,” he said.

Both the sheriff’s office and the Glenwood Police Department did confirm they responded to multiple complaints that some area businesses were violating the governor’s orders but most were resolved without incident.

England said he did not know of a single citation being issued in Mills County to any person or business for violating the governor’s statewide orders that temporary closed businesses or limited non-essential public gatherings. Those that did violate that order could have been charged with a simple misdemeanor for non-compliance.

“We were asked to follow up and we did so,” Johansen of his department’s complaint investigations. “I think a lot of the initial stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has started  to normalize and the normal stressors are back in effect.”

Pacific Junction Fire Chief Ernie Gencerelli said while his squad hasn’t responded to a call where there’s been a potential exposure to either a positive or presumptive positive individual, they prepare for that potential every time they roll out.
Gencerelli said infectious disease response is fairly standard in their fire and rescue training and his department has had no issues accessing PPE or staying in the loop on the latest information and guidelines.

None of the departments who spoke to The Opinion-Tribune have had an issue ordering or obtaining PPE. They all credited Mills County Public Health and Mills County Emergency Management with being proactive on supply lines and their constant communication on shifting guidelines and keeping them in the loop on confirmed and suspected exposures.

“I think our local officials have done a tremendous job with getting us the supplies we need and supporting us,” Gray said. “They made sure we had the PPE and information we needed.  Things changed every minute it seemed in the beginning and they kept us up to date.”

Johansen declined to speculate how long the COVID-19 and PPE protocols would be in effect, but did say it would be around until “there’s no longer a need to.”

“We’ll continue to follow the guidelines until there’s something in place that states that we no longer need to,” Johansen said. “But at this time, we’ll definitely keep following the protocols.”

The pandemic response will likely result in permanent changes to both how first responders deal with exposures to communicable diseases like the coronavirus and how training is handled in the long term. The impacts of those changes on cash strapped first responder budgets could be significant down the road.

“I don’t like to use the word permanent because eventually what we have now is going to be changed to something bigger or better I assume. But overall I do foresee this having long- term effects on all first responders,” Johansen said. “Right now, there’s a lot of support through homeland security and emergency management providing PPE and protective garments but I don’t know how long they’ll sustain that down the road.”

England agreed.

“Without any vaccine out there, this virus isn’t going away anytime soon,” he said. “And with everybody starting to open back up, I’m sure the number of people getting it is about to rise. It just comes to a point where we still have to go out there and do our job.”

The first responder community is a relatively small one. Officers and deputies and firefighters and EMTs all tend to know each other. While added stress seems to go with the job, it’s been particularly so at Pacific Junction. Gencerelli called it “a pretty stressful couple of years” for his squad.

“It has been stressful,” Gencerelli said. “I know it was when we were out of our building and Glenwood was gracious enough to share its fire station with us. It was stressful with the tight quarters and having to respond from someplace different was hard. It wasn’t home and to have this happen right on top of that has been stressful too. We have the flooding disaster and then six months later, a pandemic.

“Is anything going to get back to normal?”

 

The Opinion-Tribune

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