Business as usual at the fire department (not really)

Everything is normal at the Bristol Fire Department — understanding, of course, that absolutely nothing in life is normal these days.

Firefighters and paramedics are still responding to medical emergencies, chasing down fire alarms and rolling to the scene of accidents (there aren’t many these days, with so few cars on the road), but as is the case everywhere in life, just about everything they’re doing is a little different than it used to be.

“In some respects, it’s kind of business as usual,” said Fire Chief Michael DeMello, “and in the same breath, it’s not.”

Firefighters and paramedics have adopted new procedures for just about everything they do. An overriding premise is to limit the number of person-to-person exposures, while still providing critical, frontline services. As much as possible, the town’s emergency services dispatchers are doing screening before first-responders even arrive at a scene. If they know they’re responding to a confirmed or suspected coronavirus case — and yes, they’ve had a handful — they adopt different procedures than a cardiac emergency call.

The coronavirus call triggers full protective gear (masks, gloves, gowns, face shields), while the cardiac call might trigger just the gloves and masks. One reason to not use the full set of protective gear on every call is to preserve that vital equipment for incidents that absolutely demand it.

Even if they don’t suspect anyone in the patient’s house to have Covid-19, first-responders still proceed with an abundance of caution. First, if a patient is able to meet them outside, they ask them to. If that’s not feasible, the department uses a “scout procedure,” with a single scout acting as the first first-responder.

“We’ll send one person into the residence to evaluate the patient, the symptoms,” Chief DeMello said.

If someone’s life is in danger, they will obviously do whatever necessary to help the patient, but if they can limit the number of people inside someone’s home or interacting with the patient, they will.

Rescue calls aren’t they only situations with new procedures. At rescue and fire department headquarters, they’ve ramped up the frequency of washing hands, cleaning trucks and sanitizing equipment. At fire calls, they have new strategies as well. For a routine fire call, only the first unit to reach the location will actually go on scene and enter a building. In the event of a working fire, they would keep the various fire companies staged separately, trying once again to limit person-to-person interactions. “We’ll try to maintain social distancing, even while we’re going through our emergency responses,” the chief said.

In the event of a major incident that would lead to mutual aid from another town, Bristol is keeping one room at fire department headquarters completely empty and sanitized for visiting crews — reducing the risk of cross-contamination for both fire companies.

Always looking for equipment

The Bristol Fire Department has been, Covid-19 speaking, relatively healthy thus far. They’ve had no cases of first-responders contracting the virus or being ordered to quarantine. To keep it that way, Chief DeMello spends a portion of every day searching for protective equipment. Like every governmental and medical leader in America, the chief is on his own to find and purchase the masks and gowns for his teams.

“I’m on the phone a couple times a day with my suppliers,” the chief said.

Whatever he can get usually comes in small quantities. For instance, even if he orders a case of something like masks or hand sanitizers, he will most likely receive something less — a few boxes or a few bottles.

“I’ve learned that if I order smaller amounts, I can usually get it,” he said.

Based on current call volume, they have enough equipment. If that were to increase dramatically, things might change quickly.

Another missing piece for volunteer firefighters is the social aspect of what they do. The firefighters share a natural camaraderie, which can be seen during clamboils, steak fries and other fundraising activities. With nearly all activities on hold, and with social distancing the new norm, they just aren’t seeing each other as they once did.

The chief has been doing a weekly conference call to stay in touch with the volunteers, and he plans to roll out some online training programs soon. “We want to keep people engaged,” he said.

Such is life these days, when an online training video is a poor substitute for a good, old-fashioned clamboil.

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