Medical calls are on the rise in SLO County. Here’s how first responders are staying safe
With a majority of San Luis Obispo County residents sheltering at home, law enforcement and emergency responders are overall receiving fewer calls for service than before the coronavirus pandemic hit the Central Coast, but a growing number of those calls are health-related, some local officials say, including from people reporting symptoms of COVID-19.
Since the shelter-at-home order was issued March 18, no local first responder has tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by new coronavirus, but agencies are taking extra precautions to protect their own while performing essential duties sometimes in very close proximity with patients and civilians — as well as each other.
Some departments are suggesting their police officers transport arrestees with masks on and windows rolled down during what can be long drives to the County Jail, for example.
In Paso Robles, officials are encouraging their police and fire personnel to avoid common areas like their stations, splitting scheduled shifts and setting up temporary substations at Centennial Park.
But in a Tribune survey of local police and fire agencies chiefs and spokespeople, most respondents said the greatest challenge their departments face is convincing residents to stay home.
As medical-related calls begin to grow in frequency countywide, emergency responders are prepared to meet the call las they would for a large-scale fire or flood, Clint Bullard, spokesman for Cal Fire, said Wednesday.
“We’re an all-risk, all-hazard department,” Bullard said. “We train for this.”
No coronavirus cases among SLO County first responders
Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, and the county Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t disclose whether any of their employees have been tested for COVID-19.
The chiefs of the Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and Paso Robles police departments said none of their officers had been tested or had requested a test due to potential exposure, and Pismo Beach Police Chief Jake Miller said Wednesday he was not aware whether or not his officers had taken any tests on their own.
Morro Bay Police Chief Jody Cox said the department did test one of its employees; the test came back negative. The San Luis Obispo Fire Department similarly tested one employee, Fire Chief Keith Aggson said.
As of Thursday afternoon, no personnel, inmates, or patients at the County Jail, California Men’s Colony state prison or Atascadero State Hospital have tested positive.
Staffing not an issue during COVID-19 outbreak
Despite the continued rise in the number of positive COVID-19 cases throughout San Luis Obispo and neighboring counties, no local police or fire department reported any increase in employees calling in sick.
Pismo Beach’s Police Chief Miller said his department of roughly two dozen sworn officers has been at full deployment since the shelter-in-place order was issued.
“Everyone here seems to be healthy at this time and reporting for duty,” Miller wrote in an email. “The benefit to a smaller agency is I can check on folks quickly and daily.”
Grover Beach Police Chief John Peters said that a couple non-sworn employees who fall into the high-risk category were permitted to take accrued leave time to shelter at home.
The cities of Atascadero and San Luis Obispo declined to comment about sick calls, citing employees’ medical confidentiality.
Overall calls for service down
Most of the agencies contacted by The Tribune reported overall decreases in calls, some significantly.
Calls for police service have declined the most, with Grover Beach reporting a 40% decrease the first week and 20% decrease the second. SLOPD reported an overall decrease of 32%, Paso Robles reported a 22% decrease, Pismo Beach was down 20%, and Arroyo Grande police reported an 8% drop.
Grover Beach’s Peters said that his city’s increase in last week’s calls over the previous week tell him that more people are ignoring the shelter-at-home order.
Some police departments reported an additional decrease in the number of in-the-field contacts by officers, with many being able to take reports and statements over the phone or otherwise.
Chris Javine, general manager of San Luis Ambulance, which staffs about 100 field employees and operates a fleet of 22 ambulances, has seen a 25% decrease in calls across the board. Javine attributes that to the lack of a need to have standby ambulances at gatherings such as concerts, weddings and sports events, as well as a drop in their long-distance patient transport assignments.
Javine said the shelter-at-home order has caused the numbers of vehicle crashes and other emergency situations requiring ambulance response to fall as well.
They’re fully staffed, too — no one wants to use vacation time when there’s nowhere to go, Javine said.
Fire departments also reported an initial decrease in overall calls, though agencies such as Cal Fire said the percentage of calls that are medical in nature have increased.
San Luis Obispo Fire Chief Aggson wrote that though the department initially saw a downward trend of 911 calls, they picked back up last week with an increase of 20-30% in patients reporting COVID-19 type symptoms.
“We have adjusted our response by pressing into service our Medic Rescue 1 unit with a paramedic and EMT to respond to all COVID-type calls,” Aggson wrote in an email.
In addition, Five Cities Fire Authority — which provides fire services to Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and Oceano — gained approval from the county Emergency Management Services to implement a policy that reduces their non-emergency response to Arroyo Grande Regional Medical Center.
“This means that the nursing staff of the facility can follow an existing policy and request an ‘ambulance only’ for non-emergency transport of residents,” Steve Lieberman, FCFA chief, wrote in an email. “This reduces potential exposure to the residents of the facility and also reduces exposure to our limited number of first responders.”
How police protect themselves in the field
Police officers are still out on their regular patrols, and to do that means often getting in close, or even direct, physical contact with people on the street.
For those encounters as well as routine duties like reporting to the police station, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits are given to each officer and are placed around common areas along with hand-washing stations.
“Each patrol car is disinfected at the start of every shift and each time someone is placed in the vehicle for transport,” Morro Bay’s Cox wrote. “The same measures are taken inside the PD to limit exposure or contamination.”
“When close contact is necessary, all of my officers have PPEs to include hand sanitizer, gloves, masks (for the officers and also for somebody displaying symptoms), goggles, surgical gowns and Tyvek suits,” Arroyo Grande police Chief Beau Pryor wrote. “If we must transport, we roll the windows down and utilize the PPEs. Once at the jail, they will sanitize the patrol vehicle after booking.”
Most departments said officers are increasingly using their discretion in limiting the number of people being arrested, transported and booked into County Jail, when possible, on a case-by-case basis if there are alternatives. However, recent legislative criminal justice reforms have already limited the types of crimes for which people are required to be booked into jail.
Miller said that in Pismo Beach, where most of the city’s businesses are closed, the neighborhoods are full and the commercial districts are empty, requiring constant checking on both.
“This means we have to stay mobile, visible, and available,” Miller wrote in the email, adding that while service calls are down, specific location checks are up “astronomically” to ensure closed businesses are secure.
He said officers are currently opting to warn people witnessed violating social distancing and the shelter-at-home order “with the understanding that our community was built for outdoor activity and enjoyment.”
“Constant reminders help, as does compassion for every citizen trying to weather this,” Miller wrote.
