Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:
Personnel with the Chicago Fire Department will have a protective equipment kit that comes with 10 different items including two 30-gallon biohazard waste bags, because when it comes to cornavirus, the more than 6,000 members aren’t taking any chances. Paramedic field chiefs make sure paramedics are properly putting on the protective gear. It’s a new protocol that the fire department is instituting in the wake of a global epidemic that has killed more than 3,000 people.
In Washington state, more than two dozen firefighters ended up in quarantine after treating coronavirus patients at a nursing home. The Streamwood Fire Department has 51 firefighters, so a mandatory quarantine would be challenging. They will have N-95 masks and all the other tools recommended by the CDC. And just in case droplets do get spread,
first respondersfirefighters and paramedics will have large quantities of germicide to clean stretchers, chairs, and counter tops in the ambulance.One of the first lines of defense is the 911 dispatcher. They are now asking questions about COVID-19 symptoms, but also about recent travel plans. That information will then be relayed to
first respondersfirefighters and EMS personnel before they go into a home
