Common bond
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the number of county cases has reached 8,871, the job of front-line workers hasn't changed all that much.
When someone decides their symptoms too closely match those of COVID-19 and calls 911, the first professionals to help them are the emergency medical technicians or paramedics who arrive in an ambulance.
These first responders are also susceptible to the virus. But most of them prioritize their sense of duty to the community over fear of catching COVID-19.
“They didn't necessarily sign up for that,” said Conrad Pfeifer, executive director at Quality EMS in Adams Township. “They signed up to help a community.”
He likened COVID-19 to responding to a disaster scene.
“The crews suck it up, and do what they have to do,” he said.
Heather Flack, EMT crew chief at Quality EMS, said while a few EMTs and paramedics were initially nervous about responding to COVID-19 calls, all now jump into the rig and head out.She shrugged off the risk of interacting closely with a COVID-19 patient or suspected case.“We're in this job,” Flack said. “You take it as it comes.”Flack said Quality's call volume dropped for a few months when the virus first hit the area one year ago because people were terrified to go to the hospital.She surmises that videos on the news of corpses being stored in trucks in New York City was a big part of that initial fear.“People were scared,” Flack said. “The hospital was off limits.”That resulted in sporadic calls to transport patients in the advanced stages of the virus who could no longer avoid hospital care.Call volume began increasing in July when the fear of hospitals wore off, and now Quality responds to calls from patients with a headache who fear they have COVID-19.”It went from one extreme to the other, and at one point, we were taking everybody,” Flack said.She said ambulance crews now know that COVID-19 affects people differently, so they respond to every call as if COVID-19 is involved.“We had one lady with back pain,” Flack said of one COVID-19 patient. “That's when we realized it's not all difficulty breathing.”
Pfeifer said unlike the beginnings of the pandemic, 911 dispatchers now alert medical responders if a caller is COVID-19 positive or has suspected COVID-19.He said dispatchers were not permitted to mention the COVID-19 situation at first, but now have a standard questionnaire for each caller to determine whether the virus is or could be present.All Quality EMS crews wear an N95 mask, gloves and goggles to all calls. They gown up if the dispatcher says COVID-19 is, or might be, a factor at the call.Patients must don a mask before Quality EMS crew members will enter the building.“Before we walk into your house, we say, 'Do you have a mask?'” Flack said. “We'll distribute them if they don't.”A plastic barrier has also been installed between the driver and the treatment compartment in each ambulance, and crews must sterilize each ambulance that transports a patient who has tested positive for or is suspected to have COVID-19.In addition to wiping down surfaces in and on the ambulance, gurney and equipment, Quality EMS crews hang an ultraviolet light inside affected ambulances for 10 minutes after sanitization measures have been completed.Pfeifer said some hospitals offer a sanitizing spray they can use on ambulances as well.
Quality EMS has not been unaffected by the virus. Five staff and EMTs have tested positive over the past year.Pfeifer said the ambulance service follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, meaning if someone tests positive, they quarantine for 14 days.Those who were exposed to a positive case but remain asymptomatic must quarantine for 10 days, he said.Hospitals call the ambulance service to alert them if a patient they transported tested positive after arriving at the emergency room.Pfeifer said those in quarantine are paid their full salary because of Paycheck Protection Program grants received by the ambulance service.Other EMTs or paramedics are called in to work overtime, or part-time workers are given more hours when crew members quarantine, he said.Two entire crews among the four crews at Quality EMS have found themselves in quarantine since the beginning of the pandemic, along with individuals here and there, Flack said.
Pfeifer and Flack said the community has shown its support of the ambulance service, especially at the beginning of the pandemic when cleaners were hard to find.He said personal protective equipment (PPE) and disinfectant wipes as well as meals and snacks were dropped off outside the entrance to the building on Brickyard Road, which only reinforces the Quality EMS motto, “Neighbors helping neighbors.”“It was nice that everyone stepped up to the plate,” Flack said.Eric Hacker, who has worked as an EMT at Quality EMS for a little more than a year, said he never thought of leaving the industry when COVID-19 hit the area.“It's something that needs to be taken seriously, but I felt confident that we didn't have to worry about it because of the level of PPE we had,” Hacker said.The worst COVID-19 case he recalls is a man who was gasping for air by the time he called 911. Hacker said the man was fitted with a continuous positive airway pressure machine to push air into his lungs.He does not know if the man survived COVID-19. Ambulance personnel are not informed about their patients' health status.
Regarding the two approved COVID-19 vaccines available to first responders, Hacker decided not to have the shots.“If I was going to get the virus, I would have had it by now,” he said.He also elected to forego the vaccine because he is young and without any underlying health conditions.Hacker, who is working on his master's degree in nursing, said risk is inherent in his job.“It's just what we signed up for,” he said of responding to COVID-19 calls.Lucas Hentschel was a wheelchair van driver at Quality EMS before he began EMT courses at Butler County Community College.The EMT-in-training rides along on ambulance calls.Hentschel said he got into the profession because of his penchant for helping people, but admits to having second thoughts at the beginning of the pandemic.“We knew nothing about it,” he said of the virus.Although Hentschel considers the virus to be not much worse than the common flu, he received both vaccines.“I have a 1-year-old sister at home,” he said. “I didn't want to bring anything home and give it to my family.”Hentschel said he is proud that EMTs and paramedics are the first line of medical treatment for COVID-19.“It's just our jobs, but it's pretty cool if you think about it,” he said.Hentschel praised Quality EMS officials for doing their best to provide PPE and sanitization to protect all staff and ambulance personnel.“Everything you need, they provide it,” he said. “You couldn't ask for anything more, really.”Quality EMS has three advanced life-support ambulances, five wheelchair vans, a rehabilitation trailer for accident or fire scenes, 12 paramedics, 13 EMTs, six van drivers and three administrators.
