Penn. County to Flag Addresses of COVID-19 Patients for EMS

The Tribune-Review

Allegheny County will begin flagging the addresses of confirmed COVID-19 cases in its 911 database as a way of notifying first responders about potential exposure.

Dr. Debra Bogen, director of Allegheny County Health Department, on Tuesday issued a letter to Matthew Brown, the county’s director of Emergency Services, saying the health department would provide him a daily list of addresses for people with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The addresses will be flagged for coronavirus and entered into the county’s 911 database so dispatchers can share the alert with first responders, according to the letter. The alerts will expire after 30 days.

Pittsburgh officials including Mayor Bill Peduto and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich in recent weeks have voiced repeated concerns that first responders were not being notified about potential exposure with infected people. They described the situation as a public health risk, saying personnel could be exposed while on the job without knowledge and spread it to family members and the public.

Pittsburgh firefighters and paramedics have been quarantined for periods in recent days, but none have yet to test positive, officials said.

Bogen stressed that first responders should assume that all calls have the potential for COVID-19 exposure and they should take all precautions.

“We are continuing to conduct case investigations for all positive cases—which means we interview the case and ask about their contacts,” Bogen wrote. “As we have already been doing, if we learn of any first responders that were or may have been exposed, we will reach out to that responder-public safety personnel and provide appropriate advice.”

Ralph Sicuro, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 1 in Pittsburgh, said county notifications would help, but would not provide complete coverage for public safety personnel.

“It’s never going to be perfect, but it is a mechanism that will assist us in doing our job in a safe and effective manner,” Sicuro said.

The Pennsylvania Health Department has said it could no longer trace COVID-19 cases because of overwhelming numbers.

The state now has nearly 5,000 cases, including 325 in Allegheny County and 61 in Westmoreland County.

“I think it probably is better handled at the county level because it reduces the amount of cases that have to be tracked by one source,” Sicuro said.

The union chief said 23 firefighters have been quarantined at different times.

“We had one member who is has been waiting for his test results for days, days,” Sicuro said. “He is off until the results come back.”