At the beginning of the pandemic, the Seattle Fire Department knew that as first responders, they we're probably going to have to pivot their efforts.
"Initially, like the general population, we were very nervous about testing, nervous about going into hotspots where they were having outbreaks... It took a minute to realize that there was no one else coming to help us," said Brian Wallace the Acting Captain and COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Coordinator with the SFD. "We were the ones with the PPE and we weren't just going to shelter under our PPE until this is over, this is up to us to help." As firefighters were heading into these hot spots like nursing homes where outbreaks were emerging, the department knew they had to be able to track and monitor their own ranks as the world learned in real time ways to protect ourselves.