Whatcom EMS makes protocol changes in response to Coronavirus, ‘to protect everybody’
If you call 911 for medical help in Whatcom County, and medics show up wearing masks, gowns and gloves, it’s no reason to panic.
“We don’t mean any offense,” Whatcom County Emergency Medical Services Manager Mike Hilley told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday. “This is just about trying to protect everybody. I can see where it would be pretty concerning to have people show up at your door looking like they are ready for a hazmat response wearing masks, gowns and gloves, but we don’t want to scare anybody.”
Hilley said Whatcom EMS and the Prospect 911 Fire Dispatch Center have worked closely with the Whatcom County Department of Health and made some small protocol changes in response to the recent spread of the novel coronavirus in Western Washington. Further protocol changes and plans have been discussed, should the need arise, Hilley said.
Call volume for the fire dispatch center has increased slightly since news of the first United States death linked to COVID-19 circulated last weekend, Hilley said, “but I wouldn’t say it’s gone up significantly.”
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. The disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
So far, more than 94,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with about 3,200 deaths, the vast majority of them in China. In the U.S., 128 cases have been reported, including 10 deaths in Washington state out of 32 reported cases.
For approximately four weeks now, Hilley said Whatcom County dispatchers have asked additional screening questions of callers experiencing fever and flu-like symptoms. Initially dispatchers asked callers if they’d traveled to China or any other Asian countries, but that was later widened to traveling outside the U.S. and has now been rolled back to ask if callers have been in contact with anybody who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Fever and flu-like symptoms also are looked at as a higher risk for possible COVID-19 in people older than 65, Hilley said.
“When you do call 911, we’re trying to screen a little bit more,” Hilley said. “If it doesn’t sound emergent, then we’ll send an EMT to have a conversation through a screen door or at a safe social distance.”
Whatcom County has no confirmed coronavirus diagnoses, and Hilley said dispatchers are advising callers with flu-like symptoms to call their health care providers and stay home if they experience symptoms. Doctors or patients can always call 911 later if the situation requires, he said.
Dispatchers can notify medic units en route to any potential illness sufferers, allowing EMS responders to take precautions and enter with masks, gowns and gloves, as they would when responding to other diseases that can be spread, Hilley said.
By doing so, Whatcom County hopes to avoid a situation similar to what happened in Kirkland, where 30 firefighters and police officers were quarantined after coming into potential or direct contact with coronavirus patients at the Life Care Center facility. Twelve of those quarantined are now showing flu-like symptoms, according to a KOMOnews.com story Tuesday.
“That’s an entire shift,” Hilley said. “That would be a serious issue if it happened here. The guys live together in the fire station, and we want to keep them all healthy and ready to help.”
Hilley’s advice if you do call 911 with concerns that you may have COVID-19 is, “to be up front and tell us what your symptoms are, and we’ll work through any concerns.”
