Paramedics are stepping up their game as the number of coronavirus cases in Iowa grows.
In a time of social distancing, ambulance workers don’t have the luxury of keeping back 6 feet as they tend to the sick and injured.
The COVID-19 protocols begin before paramedics arrive on the scene. Dispatchers screen incoming calls, asking about possible respiratory symptoms, fevers and recent travel.
Calls without the risk factors mean medics arrive with their normal gloves and eye protection. Patients presenting with risk factors mean face masks and other precautions.
“If it’s anything related, they are putting a mask on the patient, and we are masking up, gowning up,” said Jason Hernandez, Waterloo Fire Rescue’s medical officer.
The hospital also gets a call to ramp up its precautions as doctors prepare for the incoming patient.