Amy Maxwell at press conference
photo by Joseph Dycus
Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services deputy director John Miller at a Monday afternoon press conference detailed how emergency responders have changed how they react to certain kinds of calls.
“911 has already began querying callers about international travel or possible exposure to a positive COVID-19 case,” said the deputy director. “They’re asking about the patient’s symptoms, asking if they’re have a fever, a cough, or are short of breath. That information is then relayed to responders.”
“These are all to limit our exposure, so we can limit the exposure we would give to other people,” he added.
Mr. Miller then described how emergency personnel would act if the person they have responded to is exhibiting symptoms consistent with a COVID-19 positive case.
“As soon as we walk in the door, we’re going to start the assessment, at a safe social distance. So we’ll be speaking to them from across the room., just to verify that those symptoms are present,” said the deputy director. “So once we verified those symptoms are present, we’re going to put a surgical mask on them, in order to limit the exposure to anybody around or the equipment.”
In addition to how 911 is responding to emergency calls where someone may possibly be COVD-19 positive, Mr. Miller also told media about how 911 has changed their operating procedure in other ways during other situations.
“We’ve also updated our first responder criteria,” said Mr. Miller. “As you know, many times a firetruck will be sent to a call with us. We’ve scaled that back a bit to send those out with critical calls. Which is to limit the exposure to others.”
He said that for the truly life-threatening calls, where the person is seriously injured, ill, or impaired, the old method would still be used.
Amy Maxwell of Hamilton County Emergency Preparedness said that the county is following the lead of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and is cancelling or postponing all public gatherings of 50 or more people. This includes weddings, sporting events, festivals, and other such assemblies. After the press conference she noted that rule had been reduced to 10 people or more.
She and Becky Barnes of the Health Department both implored Hamilton County residents to follow instructions that will hopefully slow the spread of the disease. These include staying at least six feet away from other people (social distancing), washing hands frequently or using hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available, wiping down and cleaning frequently touched surfaces, and self-quarantining if one is sick.
Ms. Maxwell also stated that press conference would be the last one held, as press conferences were not exactly conducive to social distancing. She mentioned video or streaming as an alternative.
“What we will do is, in the near future, we will provide the same link to the YouTube of Hamilton County Government website that you can use for future livestreaming,” said Ms. Maxwell.