First responders brace for wider outbreak
The number of coronavirus cases among Bay Area first responders is climbing by the day, forcing crews to upend everyday duties to fight the kind of outbreak that has sickened and sidelined hundreds of their counterparts in New York City.
San Francisco police are shuffling patrols and ordering officers to wear masks. Fire and ambulance crews in Oakland are now forced to refuse medical transport for those deemed not sick enough, due to fears the patients could become infected or sicken others if taken to the hospital. Across the Bay Area, fewer arrests are being made.
“It has completely and fundamentally changed the way we do business,” said Seth Olyer, vice president of Oakland Firefighters Local 55 union. “It’s harder on us, and it’s harder on everyone.”
Police, fire and ambulance workers are especially vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus, which has stricken more than 266,000 people in the U.S. and killed about 7,000 as of Friday afternoon. First responders are often required to make physical contact with people while the rest of the country stays 6 feet away from each other — and these interactions often involve people who are very ill.
Crews on local front lines have not experienced the levels of infections seen in New York, where, as of Tuesday, nearly 1,200 police officers had tested positive for COVID19 and more than 5,600 were out sick. To date, most of the Bay Area’s largest police and fire departments have reported only a handful of cases. Oakland police, for example, have reported three cases, while Oakland fire has had just one. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, whose department has two positive cases, said on Wednesday that 53 officers have been quarantined, though some are now back at work.
“We hope we can continue to see this good fortune that has come our way,” he said.
In Hayward, where health officials have established a cityrun testing site, three officers have tested positive. No firefighters have tested positive despite 34 firefighters being exposed: 26 tested negative and eight are still awaiting their results.
So far, firefighters in San Jose have been hit hardest; 14 members of the department have tested positive for COVID19, and 15 others are being monitored. Two sworn San Jose police officers and one reserve officer have tested positive, while 29 department members have tested negative.
San Jose Fire Department spokeswoman Erica Ray said the city has been able to successfully backfill all temporarily vacant positions and the department expects to maintain normal resource levels.
“As always, in the event that our resources are stretched by a largescale incident or high call volume, the department will request mutual aid,” she said.
While current staffing levels remain manageable for first responders in the Bay Area, exposures are inevitable and cases are continuing to grow. This week marked the first coronavirusrelated death of a Bay Area law enforcement official, Santa Rosa police Detective Marylou Armer.
Health officials say California’s apex might be a few weeks behind New York’s epidemic, suggesting the region and state are headed toward a deadly surge in cases. These bleak predictions have forced police and fire departments to make policy changes on the fly.
In normal times, an emergency medical call in Oakland would draw a fourmember engine crew, and at least three members would go inside the home, Olyer said.
Now, patients are asked to do everything in their power to come outside and meet the team at the street corner. If the person can’t move, one person from the fourmember crew will go inside a home, outfitted in gloves, a gown, goggles and a mask to assess the patient for vital signs.
If a patient isn’t deemed sick enough, fire crews in Oakland are now authorized to refuse transport to the hospital because a visit of any length risks infecting an otherwise healthy patient. Even if the patient already has COVID19 but isn’t gravely ill, they now present too much risk of infecting others, Olyer said.
“It’s a heavy decision and not one that we take lightly,” he said of refusing transport. “(But) we need to keep you safe and keep everyone else safe at the same time.”
In San Francisco, police are recommending officers wear “simple barrier isolation masks” during regular patrols, and N95 masks are now required when there’s a potential encounter with a COVID19 case.
Police Chief Scott said officials have drafted contingency plans if more officers fall ill, but he did not release specific details.
Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, said members of the force aren’t immune to fears about their own health and safety.
“Anyone who’s out there wearing a blue uniform right now, and they say they’re not worried, they’re lying,” he said. “But everyone knows they have a duty to do and go out there and serve the citizens.”
Earlier this week, Oakland police counted 147 exposures, Donelan said. But the city has been aggressively tracking them and ensured they were quickly tested.
Unlike larger cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where crime has plunged following shelterinplace orders, Oakland’s radio calls have remained steady.
Donelan pointed to sideshows from the previous weekend, where approximately 450 attendees stood shoulder to shoulder to watch drivers perform illegal stunts before arrests were made, citations were handed out and 12 cars were towed.
“It’s gravely irresponsible,” Donelan said. “I’d really like to ask members of the community: Stay at home. Do us a favor, stay at home.”