From ordering a million wipes to shifting schedules and posting signs, Police, Fire and Parks Departments are adapting to public interactions in the face of a pandemic.
Chief Kara Kalkbrenner said all personal protective equipment recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been distributed and the department continues to monitor and share information with employees.
Like the Police Department, Fire has developed a screening process for the initial 911 call to try to identify potential COVID-19 infected people through a series of questions.
The regional dispatch center in Phoenix handles dispatch for 26 local fire departments. As of Monday, Kalkbrenner she said there were 156 dispatches related to potential COVID-19 incidents. Of those, 90 were within Phoenix boundaries. The number of transports involving potential COVID-19 incidents was 87 region wide and 40 in Phoenix. She said the number of confirmed infected patients the Fire Department encountered was 3.