TACOMA, Wash. — South Sound 911 in Pierce County was rocked by COVID-19.
The emergency call center stated 15 employees recently tested positive for the virus, with the first popping up in late July. Employees worked overtime and supervisors pitched in working dispatch radios and answering calls in order to not disrupt service.
The outbreak is giving other first responders a look at the impact an outbreak can have on a department.
“Right now, we have nine career firefighters on shift at once, so it would completely wipe out a shift,” said Anne Nesbit of the Key Peninsula Fire Department. “We’d need to backfill with other shifts, but that would tax us greatly.”
First responders throughout Pierce County say following health department guidelines on preventing the spread of COVID-19 is taken seriously, because it’s not just about their own safety, but the community they serve.
“Even though we are a fire department, most of our calls are medical calls,” Nesbit said. “We’re going into homes where people may have autoimmune deficiencies where they haven’t been able to get the vaccine, or they’re elderly, or they’re young kids who haven’t been able to get that vaccination.”
Even a small outbreak could leave the county vulnerable.
“One of the things that can be scary about this is not the fact that people are just getting sick, but if we have a high number of people or all the people on a shift getting sick who are working together, that’s a huge problem with the community if we have to take six of our eight deputies out in one district,” said Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
But despite the strain from a potential outbreak, first responders assure residents that they wouldn’t be left without assistance in an emergency.
“We would never leave the county empty, or run short with not enough people to work in the field, and if it came down to it, I’d put my uniform on and go right back to work as well,” Moss said.
Since the outbreak, South Sound 911 sent KING 5 a statement saying that they are now requiring employees to provide proof of vaccination. It also added that around half of the affected employees are back at work, and more are expected to return by early next week.