TULSA, Okla. — Medics are among those on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus.
Oklahoma’s EMSA providers say despite the sickness outbreak, their calls are actually down.
To stay safe, EMSA employees have their temperatures taken every day as they walk in and out of work.
EMSA Medic Kyle Morgan says, “I’m more worried about my family than I am myself. I guess it’s a selfless attitude. Just making sure we protect the public, this stops, and we come to a good resolution.”
Morgan and his coworkers rely on PPE kits for protection.
“We have safety glasses and a gown that will protect us from any kind of airborne illnesses that would get on our uniform that we would touch after that. This is vital. We would not have staff to run calls if we didn't have this.”
To determine when they are potentially heading into an environment, the virus is in or any other infectious disease, callers are first questioned about their symptoms.
Morgan says, “We don’t know if somebody is positive or not. So, we’re treating anyone that falls within a certain range of symptoms such as, shortness of breath, anything like that, treating it as if they could potentially have something.”
When teams arrive, if the patient is able to, he or she is asked to meet them outside. They also respond with as few members as possible.
Morgan says, “What we’ve been instructed to do is make a doorway assessment. We see how many resources are needed. If it’s not needed for five people, we’ll send the others back to the station and we’ll do it with a minimum amount of people as possible.”
When it is needed, EMSA is prepared to switch to telehealth to respond to calls. Right now, they are capable and prepared to continue doing that in-person.
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