Greater Miami Valley EMS Council: #GMVEMSC: FW: Guidance for Public Safety Answering Points and Dispatch Centers re: 2019-nCov

See the advisory below from ODH and ODPS. Each agency and Dispatch Center must determine their own course of action. However, given that there are no confirmed cases in Ohio or even in any adjacent state, this may be premature. Our concern continues to be that these recommendations have the potential to slow the dispatch process for people who are having difficulty breathing, when the likelihood is extremely high that the patient’s problem is NOT 2019-novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov).

That said, if a caller advises a dispatch center that they are recently returned from China or have other reasons to believe that they may have 2019-nCov, that information should be communicated to responding crews. Crews should also immediately notify the hospital.

Also, this morning’s SitRep from PHDMC is attached.

David N. Gerstner

MMRS/RMRS/EP Coordinator

Department of Fire I City of Dayton

300 N. Main St. I Dayton, Ohio 45402

Office 937.333.4551 I Fax 937.333.4561 I www.daytonohio.gov

24/7 Pager: 937-227-8705 or E-mail 9372278705@archwireless.net

Cell 937.776.4410
david.gerstner@daytonohio.gov I http://DaytonMMRS.org

From: Ohio EMS [mailto:OhioEMS@info.dps.ohio.gov]
Subject: Guidance for Public Safety Answering Points and Dispatch Centers

OHIO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Ohio Emergency Medical Services

Robert L. Wagoner, Interim Executive Director

www.ems.ohio.gov

ODH

Novel Coronavirus Guidance for
Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) and Dispatch Centers

Effective communication during transport of a patient with possible or known 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection between dispatchers, EMS personnel and receiving facilities is necessary to ensure appropriate protection of healthcare workers. When 2019-nCoV is suspected in a patient needing emergency transport, dispatchers, prehospital care providers and healthcare facilities should work closely together to provide as much advance notice as possible that they may be transporting or receiving a patient who may with suspected 2019-nCoV.

Symptoms exhibited by people infected with 2019-nCoV are very similar to those of influenza and include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. The incubation period is 2 to 14 days. If the caller reports these symptoms, PSAP and Dispatch Center personnel should ask:

Do you have a history of travel to mainland China within 14 days before you developed symptoms?
Did you have close contact with a person with novel coronavirus infection while that person was ill during the 14 days before you developed symptoms?

This information should be documented on the patient care report. If the caller answers “yes”, to either question above, PSAPs and Dispatch Center personnel should alert EMS providers and first responders of the potential for a patient with possible exposure/signs and symptoms of 2019-nCoV before the responders arrive on scene. This will enable EMS providers to select and correctly put on personal protective equipment (PPE) following the guidance in the Ohio Department of Health’s Interim Infection Control Guidance for Prehospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS): https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/know-our-programs/novel-coronavirus/resources-lhd/infection-control-ems-services.

ODH 2019 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (2019-nCov) – PSAP GUIDANCE 2/1/2020

Guidance for Public Safety Answering Points and Dispatch Centers 2-1-2020.pdf

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