As those on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic (and in other times of crisis) are often putting themselves in harm’s way for the greater good, especially in times of limited resources. How, then, can these first responders protect themselves during these times?
Paul Biddinger, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Disaster Medicine, vice chairman for emergency preparedness in MGH’s Emergency Medicine Department, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, talked to The Harvard Gazette to provide tips and areas of institutional change in order to provide some protection:
Start querying at the initial point of contact: “On 911 calls, you need to be efficient, ask questions, and get answers quickly so you don’t delay care. But they should be asking about whether anyone has fever and respiratory symptoms and whether anyone has had contact with COVID. Making this a part of how they query callers is really, really important,” says Biddinger.
Provide a script: “It would be a good idea to give law enforcement, the fire service, even EMS a clear script of two, three, four questions that they ask every time to help them identify risks,” says Biddinger. “Providing them with very simple questions as they approach a scene or approach a person in need can help them identify risks very quickly. Then the script should let the police officer or firefighter know what they should do if they get a certain answer.”
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