Vancouver’s fire department is preparing to stop responding to the site of non-critical medical calls to preserve its ability to respond to major fires and other emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fire Chief Darrell Reid told a news conference this week the department is looking at changing its service model, in a move representing one of many ways emergency response across the country is evolving as the novel coronavirus spreads.

“We’re triaging ourselves to maximize our ability to stay resilient for a long term,” Reid said.

The experience of other countries around the world illustrates that COVID-19 calls may evolve to become top-priority medical calls, Reid said. Firefighters understand they still play a role in the health-care system, particularly in urgent cases, and are prepared to respond to those as need.

But the idea is to preserve the fire department’s capacity to respond to fires and other emergencies as pressure mounts on the system.

“There’s actually a lot of science behind triage, it’s literally a scoring system based on the severity of calls,” Reid said.

British Columbia Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the province is already seeing retired first responders step up and offer to help in case they are need.

Beyond abiding by directives made by public health officials, it’s up to local emergency units to make their own decisions about adjusting service models depending on the size of a detachment, its schedules and the situation in a particular region, he said.

Other fire departments are taking similar measures.

Source: Read Full Article