BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

CANTON -- Some of St. Lawrence County’s first responders are uneasy responding to potential COVID-19 calls out of fear of bringing the virus home to their families, according to the county’s emergency services director.

“A couple of our agencies are scared,” SLC Emergency Services Director Matt Denner said. “Nobody wants to bring this home to their family.”

Denner made the remark Monday, March 30 at a St. Lawrence County legislature finance committee meeting held online over Zoom.

He said when there is a COVID-19 concern, it’s called over the radio as “Code 36.”

“They don’t know the name … they know someone is quarantined,” Denner said. “Every call gets screened with questions for COVID-19 … if they answer any of them yes, it goes on and on until we dispatch code 36.”

And responders can see how the caller answered each of the questions.

“We had a call over the weekend and the guy said he tested positive and it came up in our system as flagged as having been quarantined,” he said.

Legislator John Burke, R-Norfolk, suggested patients who may pose a higher risk of carrying the coronavirus be screened by other medical professionals first, but Denner said it’s not that simple.

“Is there any medical intervention prior to pickup or transport … something that might channel a phone call to a medical professional to get a second opinion,” Burke asked.

“We can’t turn anybody down,” Denner said. “Every ambulance has a cell phone and radio where they can call a doctor that’s on 24/7.”

“I agree with the diversion that it could be a little better. We’re not in the practice of that … the liability in that would be huge,” Denner said.

One of the concerns is access to adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves, gowns and masks, such as the N95.

“We were given the bare minimum in the beginning. We do have a little bit more,” Denner said. “It looks like the state is going to send us a shipment once per week.”