NEWARK -- The Newark safety forces are dealing with a lot right now, probably even more than most residents can imagine.
Not only are police and fire personnel protecting the health and safety of the public, they are also concerned for their own health and the health of their families during the coronavirus pandemic. The public is stressed out more than normal, as are first responders.
Newark Fire Chief Pat Connor and Newark Police Chief Barry Connell gave an update to Newark City Council on Monday night about the status of their departments during the pandemic and resulting shutdown.
"The fire department life has changed," Connor said. "The normal is now not normal. We went into protect mode for all of our membership on the fire department, just given the unknown.
“The mental health situation is impacted. We’re trying to focus on our own mental health. Some of our own membership is struggling through all of this, with the stress on their family. We’re trying to make sure we’re taking care of them on a mental health level, as well as physically.”
All fire stations are locked down, with no tours, no public allowed in the building. Fire inspectors are working in vacant structures, in closed businesses, to avoid contact with the rest of the department.
A backup paramedic unit, with a barrier between the driver and the patient compartment, is reserved for transporting potential COVID-19 patients. In the early days of the pandemic, two firefighter-paramedics were quarantined, and later tested negative for the virus, after being exposed to an infected patient.
Now, if a firefighter needs to be quarantined to protect his family, DoubleTree hotel and Denison University have provided rooms they can use.
Connor said the number of calls per day are down, but it doesn’t feel that way to the responders. Instead of 35 to 40 calls a day, it’s been 20 to 25.
“Those 25 calls are more stressful, though, because everyone thinks they have the COVID-19,” Connor said. “But nobody wants to go to the hospital. They want us to check them out.
“We’re limiting our interaction with people on runs,” Connor said. “So, hypothetically, if someone has chest pain, we’re standing on the front porch, one person, with the other remaining crew member or crew members stand off on the sidewalk and we’ll ask questions. We try to determine if this patient is a COVID patient or not.”
The fire chief said last weekend was particularly difficult, with a surge in overdoses and suicides.
“The overdose runs this past weekend – we had quite a few. There’s a certain batch of drugs coming through the communities. We do have weekends, periodically, where we have a significant uptick. The overedose situation this past weekend something we’re not normally seeing. A higher rate of suicides also.”
“We’re handling things adequately. We’re not able to provide the services we want to provide to everybody. We’re doing the best we can.”
Connell said the police department has been dealing was some unique situations as well, in addition to responding to criminal activity and requests for help. The lobby has closed there are no ride-alongs, some investigations are done over the phone and the department tries to juggle directives from every level of government.
The police chief said he did not want to disclose the number of officers in quarantine but said there has been a couple issues.
“We’re at a bit of a loss because the jails are not able to take people,” Connell said. “A lot of people, we’re not able to incarcerate. That’s an impact and it’s not a secret. It gets out to the community that doesn’t want to get locked up. So, our officers have to deal with that.”
The police chief said the combination of the stress level, schools closed, the new Boys and Girls Club of Newark not able to operate as normal, has all combined for a troubling situation, with an uptick in domestic violence.
Both chiefs said they are looking forward to LMH providing them with antibody tests to alleviate at least one of their concerns. Fire department personnel will be tested on Thursday, followed by police on May 15.
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
740-328-8545
Twitter: @kmallett1958
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