TUCSON, Ariz. - First responders may be the first medical professionals to contact a coronavirus patient. They depend on information in advance to make sure they're protected.
We are used to seeing medical professionals coping with Coronavirus in a lab, or hospital---a more predictable, controlled environment. But when ambulance crews rush to help someone in trouble, it's harder to maintain tight infection controls.
When Tucson Fire crews run on a medical call they depend on 911 operators to ask if someone's coughing, if they have a fever. They collect as much information as they can before the ambulance arrives, so paramedics and EMTs know if they need more than their usual protection when they're close to the patient.
Tucson Fire Deputy Chief Darin Wallentine says, “We will wear eye protection. We will at times when indicated we will wear a mask. We also have obviously been wearing gloves. And we do have the ability to wear arm guards or gowns, if it rises to the level of that sort of exposure."
That process has actually been part of the routine for many years---learned though incidents like major flu outbreaks.
The international nature of Coronavirus adds new questions to the information gathering.
Chief Wallentine says: "Like if somebody has traveled outside the country within the last 30 days. In addition to those questions that best prepares our people to walk into the circumstances and provide the best care possible, as well as protecting our firefighters."
There's another thing first responders have to consider. If they are exposed, there's a risk they could have to go into quarantine. That's happened to firefighters in California and Washington State and it makes those emergency workers unavailable just when you need them
