PHOTO: Todd Simoes has been an EMT for more than 20 years, but he’s shocked by what he’s been encountering during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re seeing a lot of sick, sick people,” said Simoes, an EMT with the Cataldo Atlantic Ambulance unit assigned to Lynn. “In the last week or two, there’s been a spike in coronavirus patients on calls. It’s been consistent. It doesn’t let up.”
There’s been a dramatic shift in the type of calls Simoes has been getting over the past month. Three to four weeks ago, before there was a positive case in the city, the virus-related calls were from people who were anxious about having a cough or ache.
Although they were asymptomatic, those people wanted to be taken to a hospital, which was dangerous because there would be COVID-19 positive patients there.
Now, though, he’s going on calls for a lot of seriously ill people.