Board of Aldermen 03-16-2020 Page 16
Director Bagley
Thank you, Justin. So when we think about our Public Health Infrastructure and our Public Health
System, Police and Fire, as well as our municipality and our school, all are part of that system. So you
know we have to think about the all on deck, all hands-on deck approach with this and we also need to
make sure that we can protect all those hands that are on deck. So we did work over the weekend
with creating a flow chart that would help prevent exposure to infectious respiratory diseases. In
working with both the Chief of the Police Department and the Chief of the Fire Department and some
of the folks that were there, we went through and developed a process of questions that would allow
for the Officers and the Fire Fighters to be safe in their encounters. And you are right, so they can’t
pick and choose and they can’t say, “No I’m not going there” because that’s a part of our job as
protecting, preserving and serving the public.
So there’s a flow chart that was developed. Chief Carignan came up with a set of four questions that
are based off the screening things that we have for healthcare professionals. And we just created this
flow chart that helps the officers and the firefighters. Sorry I’ll pass that around that way. And so you
know it was preempted also by dispatch, these questions being asked ahead of time so that the
officers and the firefighters and AMR know what they are going into when they are going on the scene.
So this set of questions here just allows for them to again reiterate these certain questions: Do you
have a fever greater than 100.4 or are showing signs of symptoms of a lower respiratory illness such
as a cough, shortness of breath. And if there is a “yes” to that or an affirmative to that question, then
we want the fire fighter or the officer to put on their surgical face mask that they can use.
If they have come into close contact with an individual who has a laboratory confirmed COVID-19
diagnosis in the past 14 days, if the person answers “yes” in that encounter, then we are asking them
to maintain social distancing as much and as long as they possibly can, because at some point in time,
they do have to get closer to the individual. And then also there’s a question, “Are you physically able
to meet the responder outside”. And so if the individual can come outside, then the responders do not
have to go inside of an apartment or into a house. If they can, the person will come outside, if they
can’t, then we want again, for officers and our fire fighters to use the personal protective equipment
that they have as they are interacting with the individual.
And then it just goes on of how to dispose of those gloves, the mask and again washing hands
afterwards, in-between each encounter. These are things that we are taught; | trained as a Fire
Fighter, probably under you Alderman, probably under Chief Rhodes as well. And so these are things
that we are taught initially and it doesn’t hurt for these reminders to be there, because again we want
to make sure that our Fire Fighters and our Police Officers are protected at all stages.
Alderman O’Brien
And you express a very point; so when a provider, AMR or a Fire Fighter or the Police Officer asks you
to step outside and | just want the public to know this, under these extreme circumstances, they are
not being rude, they are asking it for their particular safety as well as the patient’s particular safety.
We would hope that our citizens would be compliant as that matter of safety to those requests.
Alderman Dowd
Just a quick thing, | Know you are probably doing this but it seems like in Washington, they've lost the
ability to do it. When people call in and you are going to have other people assisting you, if they ask
the same question, they should always get the same answer. Because if you start getting different
