NJ Triage Protocol
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – If you have been tested positive for COVID-19 infection, local police want you to voluntarily provide that information to the Police Department, just in case you may need to be transported to the hospital if symptoms worsen.
Local municipalities following CDC and NJ Department of Health guidelines have received temporary waivers to certain rules governing Basic and Advanced Life Support that are designed to not only protect patients, but also the first responders who risk their lives to transport sick patients to the hospital.
Because the medical system is only equipped to handle the most critical cases, first responders are not taking those with minor symptoms to the hospital. Instead, they are recommending what the CDC recommends – tough it out at home.
Transporting non-critical patients will place a strain on a medical system that is already over-extended. Local EMS organizations have been granted a waiver from their normal procedures to preserve scarce resources, which includes a finite supply of personal protective equipment.
“We’re using PPE that we received after 9/11, during the anthrax scare of 2002,” Ventnor Police Chief Michael Cahill said. “We are basically triaging in the field.”
Cahill reported Thursday to the Board of Commissioners that call volume for police, fire and EMS is down about 30%.
“More people are staying at home,” he said. “People don’t want to go to the hospital where you can be guaranteed they will be exposed to it even more.”
Margate Fire Chief Dan Adams said protocols set by the NJ Department of Health are in flux, changing every day, but that EMS is responding to all calls, and that the department is as responsive to the community as it has ever been.
Emergency dispatchers are screening all calls to determine the nature of the call for service, ask if the patient is having symptoms, such as a fever over 100.4 degrees, cough and shortness of breath. The screening allows first responders to properly prepare before making an on-site assessment from a safe distance and obtaining the patient’s medical history.
Adams said there is a hierarchy of calls that can be made to help EMTs determine if a patient should be transported, including contacting the department’s contracted medical director, a hospital medical command nurse or doctor, and the NJ Poison Control Center. If those contacts cannot be reached by telephone, the EMT can determine if the patient should be triaged to the hospital or home, documenting the process.
According to a notice posted on Margate’s website, any members of the public who have tested positive for COVID-19 or is under instructions from a physician to quarantine at home, should voluntarily send their information to a secure email address, so first responders can be well-protected with the appropriate PPE when they respond.
Margate residents can send their name, age, address and when and where they were tested positive, or directed to quarantine. Send the information securely to covid19@margate-nj.com or call 609-822-1151.
Residents of Ventnor and Longport can just call for service when needed.
Adams said EMTs provide a Home Care Guide to those who are triaged to the home, instructing them how to care for themselves, and what they can do to prevent others from getting infected.
Although Margate has been notified by the county that it has two positive cases, there could be many more, Adams said.
That’s because notification of a positive testing result is sent to the patient’s home address, and recorded in that county or municipality, so there could be second homeowners or visitors in town who have the virus that the city is not aware of, he said.
So far, no emergency medical technicians in Ventnor or Margate have been tested for the virus because they are not showing any symptoms, both fire chiefs said.
Only those showing symptoms of the virus can be tested and only with a doctor’s prescription.
The county opened its drive-through testing site at the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing only for first responders on Thursday, April 9 and will open it to members of the public who have a doctor’s script 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 14 and Thursday, April 16. Residents will need to provide a doctor’s script; verification of residency, such as a driver’s license or utility bill; and confirmation of appointment. Residents can begin making appointments starting 8 a.m. Friday, April 10, by visiting the county web site at www.aclink.org/covid/ and clicking on the COVID-19 Testing link.
The county has purchased 600 test kits at a cost of $100,000. The company providing the test kits will refill orders in batches of 100 as needed, a county official said.
Adams said the city is taking a pro-active approach in reaching out to senior citizens who have registered their special needs on the state’s Register Ready platform.
“I personally shopped for a 101-year-old woman to make sure she had food,” he said. “The way I look at it is, it’s all about paying it forward and doing the right thing. But the key for everyone is to do social distancing and wear a mask when in public.”
NJ Dept. of Health Rule Waiver/Modification letter with COVID-19 At Home Care Instructions
Margate COVID-19 Self Reporting Instructions
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