Bend Fire prepares for surge in emergency calls

Battalion chief says spike in medical calls expected next week

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As emergency crews across the U.S. brace for a spike in coronavirus cases, Bend Fire and Rescue and other fire departments across Central Oregon are preparing to handle a potential surge in emergency calls. 

Bend Fire Battalion Chief Trish Connolly told NewsChannel 21 Monday one of the steps fire chiefs in Deschutes County are taking is temporarily closing outdoor burning, starting at sunset on Friday.

Connolly said the reason for the restriction is two-fold: to help prevent lower air quality due to smoke, which could compromise the health of people who are recovering from COVID-19 at home and those with underlying health conditions or respiratory problems, and also to keep paramedics and firefighters available for medical emergency calls.

“In the next couple of weeks, we’re preparing for a surge of medical response due to COVID-19, and our firefighter paramedics are also the ones that respond on burn complaints and escaped burns,” Connolly said.

She said if people call 911 and are not showing flu-like symptoms such as shortness of breath, fever, or a sore throat, paramedics may advise people to stay home and call a doctor first.

Connolly said although they expect a surge of calls in the following weeks, she said the fire department has seen a decrease in the volume of 911 calls in the past couple of weeks. 

“The calls we do get take a lot more time for us to go through, because we have a lot of disinfecting equipment in our ambulance,” Connolly said.

She said it’s hard to predict how many calls the department expects to receive in the next couple of weeks, but as long as people in Central Oregon stay home, she said they can continue to save more lives.