Oak Creek firefighter Jerry Biggart, who is part of the of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, wants legislators to know how critical it is to keep the mask requirement in place. First responders encounter people every day, in small, confined spaces, who need help and are not wearing masks.
“Firefighters and EMS workers are dealing with the outcome of the COVID virus and with the amount of sick people that we are seeing, we’re very concerned should anything be done to decrease the amount of masks being worn by the citizens in our state,” Biggart said in a news conference Tuesday, adding that many firefighters and EMS workers in Wisconsin have contracted COVID. “There already are a lot of masks not being worn, so to make a point of letting more folks know that they don’t need to wear those, to me sends a public health message that somebody that isn’t involved in science in any way would find to [give] a false sense of security that they don’t need to wear one.”