This holiday season, the Merrill Fire Department is seeing calls they’d never seen before 2020. They have to be just as quick to respond to calls without letting COVID-19 slow them down.
Usually at this time of year, Merrill firefighters might be suiting up for calls for holiday fires or kitchen fires, but this year, they’re having to suit up in PPE for EMS calls to protect themselves from COVID-19.
“From October on, it was pretty busy,” explains Corey Nowak, a firefight paramedic with the Merrill Fire Department, speaking about COVID calls.
When Nowak goes on a known COVID call, he puts on a special suit. “So if we’re going to a call that’s even a known pulseless non-breathing patient, we still have to take and put on that protective gear to protect ourselves,” he said.