In the midst of an evolving pandemic, very little is absolutely certain.
So it can’t be said with unwavering surety that the cautious and calculated approach taken by emergency responders in Spokane County is to credit for their relative good health – but it certainly didn’t hurt.
As community spread of COVID-19 continues to rise in Spokane County, the number of first responders out of work remains low, despite the close quarters in which they often work and high-risk situations they enter.
“So far, we haven’t really realized any sort of major impact. Pretty consistently, most of the time we’ve usually got a couple of people off, two to three on quarantine,” said Deputy Spokane Fire Chief Jay Atwood.
The success of local emergency agencies in abating the spread of COVID-19 is attributed in part to the aggressive precautionary measures they took early in the pandemic.
Fire departments in the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley – which also reports low quarantine numbers and positive COVID-19 tests – adopted all-mask, all-the-time policies. Firefighters wear a mask whenever they’re at work, be it responding to a call or in the station.