Peel paramedics launch special team for high-risk calls during coronavirus pandemic
Posted April 21, 2020 3:48 pm.
Last Updated April 21, 2020 8:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Healthcare workers contend with high-risk situations daily, which have now been made even riskier due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To respond to the unique circumstances and increased safety risks paramedics are faced with, while still making sure the community is properly served, Peel region paramedics have launched a “high-risk paramedic response team.”
“Recognizing that COVID is a respiratory illness, patients are likely to require medical procedures to support their breathing if they’re experiencing respiratory distress,” says Justin Mausz, an advanced care paramedic with the Region of Peel who will be on the team and was involved in putting it together.
Mausz says while such procedures can be life-saving, they also carry a risk of transmitting the virus to healthcare workers.
“Our goal in putting together the team was still to be able to provide these potentially life-saving procedures, but to do so in a way that’s going to minimize the risk of exposure to our paramedic staff,” he adds.
While the creation of the team was prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s mission is to respond to any high-risk calls that require “aerosol generating procedures” which create airborne particles, including droplets through which the virus spreads.
About 60 Peel region paramedics were hand-picked for the team and were provided with an hour long web-based orientation session along with several hours of pre-recorded online content as part of their training.
They were also given an in-person training session where they ran through simulations and familiarized themselves with new safety procedures and new tools, including new personal protective equipment (PPE).
Paramedics usually wear an N95 mask, a gown, medical gloves and eye and face protection to perform high-risk procedures. The high-risk response team will be using enhanced PPE which also includes:
- a full-body encapsulating suit made of Tyvek
- a gown on top of the suit
- a powered air purifying respirator which filters incoming air through a high efficiency hepa-filter
- helmet and face shield that encapsulates the whole head
New equipment includes an automated CPR device called AutoPulse that performs chest compressions, so that other first responders can leave the room, since CPR is also thought to be a high-risk procedure.
The program does involve additional equipment and staffing costs, but Dave Wakely, an advanced care paramedic also tasked with putting together the team, says the benefits far outweigh the costs.
“Ultimately it’s worth the investment if it even prevents one paramedic illness,” he says. “We’ve seen in other jurisdictions — the medical ranks just being ravaged by this disease — and we really wanted to be proactive for that.”
Given the logistics and training involved, the team came together on very short notice, with a quick turnaround from idea to inception.
“The initial push for it from the chief was April 3,” explains Wakely. “We operationalized pretty fast — we worked through the weekend to create this proposal and two weeks later, we are launched.”
The team is believed to be one of the only such high-risk units in the country and among a select few in the world.
“My hope is that this team helps provide peace of mind for the paramedics out there but also for the community,” says Wakely.
Mausz adds that support from the community has been heartening and he looks forward to further serving them through this new team.
“We recognize that everybody in society is stressed and tense because this is something we’ve never had to deal with before,” says Mausz. “So I think it’s really important that we’re grateful for the community support that we’ve received … they’ve been sending us donations, thank you notes … and that goes a long way tel helping us do our jobs and making us feel appreciated, so thank you.”
Mausz starts his first day on the new team on Thursday.
