
DERBY — Please note the drive-through testing location at the hospital has propane tanks.
If we’re going to a call about a carbon monoxide alarm, is dispatch going to ask if the person has a fever or dry cough?
When are we getting more P100 masks?
It’s a new world for emergency responders, as the COVID-19 virus continues its march around the globe, including here in Connecticut.
Tragically, the disease claimed its first victim Wednesday: an 88-year-old man who had been living in an assisted living facility in Ridgefield. The grim news was announced by Gov. Ned Lamont at a press conference in Hartford, along with the fact state health department crews were sent to investigate a report of the virus in a nursing home in Stafford Springs. Click here for a story.
A few hours later about 54 firefighters from Derby and fire department leaders from surrounding towns phoned into a conference call to exchange information and ask questions that centered around how to respond to calls with COVID-19 circulating.
The call was led by Derby Fire Department Commissioner Gary Parker and Assistant Fire Chief David Lenart.
The Valley Indy was allowed to listen-in, with the knowledge of the participants.
“It’s going to be a new way of doing business for the Derby Fire Department and, obviously, emergency services all over,” Parker said.
The attitude during the conference call was task oriented.
Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks noted he inspected the drive-through testing facility that’s under construction in the parking lot of Griffin Hospital. It’s just about ready to go live. He noted to the other firefighters that there are propane tanks on site for heat — information firefighters should know should they have to respond.
(Griffin Health will be sending an announcement when the drive through is ready. People cannot just show up in a car. A doctor’s order is needed. Click here for a previous Valley Indy story)
Lenart noted that no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Derby yet. As of Tuesday there was one positive case and one “presumed positive” case either in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Seymour or Shelton. Health officials won’t say which town.
Lenart advised firefighters to be alert. He likened the COVID-19 virus to dealing with radiation — distance and protection are key.
To that end, Lenart noted the fire department has ordered additional P100 protective masks. They should arrive in a week.
A representative from Northwest Connecticut Public Safety participated in the call. That’s the dispatch center who send Valley police, EMS and firefighters to call.
He noted that dispatchers have been screening callers to get a sense of whether COVID-19 could come into play. The dispatcher, on so called “sick calls,” were asking callers whether they had traveled to the “hot spot” countries where COVID-19 was circulating. Now Connecticut is one one of those places, so the dispatchers cut to whether the caller has any of the COVID-19 symptoms — fever and a cough, for example.
Firefighter Chuck Stankeye asked whether the same questions could be asked for calls such as carbon monoxide alarms, flooded basements — calls that aren’t always emergencies but require firefighters to enter a house.
Northwest will be talking about the issue Thursday morning.
Lenart advised the firefighters to keep the virus in the backs of their minds. Now that Griffin is getting a drive-through testing facility, what if a person on their way to get tested gets in a crash?
All things to keep in mind, he said.
“Head on a swivel, everybody,” he advised.