Boone County Recorder 0409

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BOONE COUNTY RECORDER Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Boone County

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 ❚ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS ❚ PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK ###

THANK YOU! TO OUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS FOR YOUR CONTINUED PATRONAGE AND DEDICATED ASSOCIATES WORKING TIRELESSLY TO NOURISH OUR COMMUNITIES

ON THE FRONT LINES St. Elizabeth team suits up to care for patients Terry DeMio Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Two members of the St. Elizabeth Infectious Disease Response Team in the Fort Thomas hospital. ST. ELIZABETH/PROVIDED

Lee Ann Ernst stands in a hall at St. Elizabeth Hospital-Fort Thomas. She is the coordinator of the St. Elizabeth Infectious Disease Response Team, caring for patients with COVID-19. PROVIDED, ST. ELIZABETH HEALTHCARE

First responders mask up to face new world of COVID-19 Terry DeMio Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

At the start of every shift, they take each others’ temperatures. Anyone with a fever or possible COVID-19 symptoms is out. Then it’s time for total decontamination of ambulances. Every surface from seats to steering wheels is scrubbed, every container wiped down with disinfectant. The fl oor is mopped. Then they are ready for the 911 calls. And if you call for paramedics during the novel coronavirus pandemic, their faces might be shielded. They likely will be wearing goggles and face masks and gloves when they approach you. This is the new world of emergency response. A world of increasing safety precautions, with distance a primary rule, and a world in which rules change rapidly and continuously. “Cincinnati Fire Department, like every fi re department across the United States, we are learning things minute by minute,” said Capt. Kevin Uhl of the city’s EMS Operations Bureau. Two weeks ago, Cincinnati medics were wearing less personal protective equipment than they are today. Tomorrow, it might be more. It is not a pleasant sight for the ones who’ve called for help. “When you pull up to a house for a fall and have an N95 mask and goggles, it’s scary for people,” said fi refi ghter/ paramedic Jordan Hines, who works

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Crescent Springs Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Dietz (left) has his temperature taken by fi refi ghter paramedic Jordan Hines. The Crescent Springs fi refi ghters and paramedics get their temperatures checked every day. PHOTOS BY PHIL DIDION

for the Crescent Springs Villa Hills Fire and EMT, Erlanger Fire and Independence Fire departments in Northern Kentucky. The personal protective equipment, or PPE, can be “off -putting,” Uhl agreed. “That’s our chance to educate the public,” Crescent Springs Villa Hills fi refi ghter/EMT Dick Burns said. “On every run, we use universal precautions: Masks. Gloves. Six feet apart. Until we care for the patient. “It is a respectful thing,” Burns said. It’s not just about protecting the fi refi ghter. “We don’t want to pass along anything to them, either.” The fi rst responders ask you to remember: A fi refi ghter or paramedic,

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even most of those who are infected with COVID-19, can’t be sure who has the respiratory infection and who doesn’t. Reasons for a call may be deceiving to a paramedic. “We experienced, at the infancy of this, with car wrecks (and) you’d fi nd out that they were on their way to the doctor’s offi ce for a fever,” Uhl said. In hospital parking lots, after a patient is pushed into the emergency department, Crescent Springs Villa Hills medics do “express cleaning” of the ambulances. Once back at the fi rehouse, deep-cleaning is required, said Fire Chief Jeff Wendt. In Kenton County, Homeland Security & Emergency Management Director Steve Hensley said, health offi cials, county judges executive and other agency leaders confer every morning to discuss latest needs and latest discoveries about safety and COVID-19. They alter the protocols as needed so emergency responders (and hospital staff ) remain as protected as possible. “We have a limited amount of staff ing, and our responders are our most valuable resource,” Hensley explained. So far, emergency caregivers have had enough personal protective equipment (PPE). Hensley’s agency has provided more than 100,000 pieces of personal protecSee RESPONDERS, Page 2A

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Roughly 160 medical caregivers take turns during 12-hour shifts, though some cannot pull away so soon, on the St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas hospital unit for patients with COVID-19. Nurses and doctors and lab technicians, ultrasound experts, respiratory caregivers, you name it. They are on the front lines every day, every night, suited up and alert and caring for the sick on the fl oor. “Our unit,” Lee Ann Ernst calls it. She is a nurse. “I am always a nurse,” she says, but she is also coordinator of the St. Elizabeth Infectious Disease Response Team. It is this team that takes care of the COVID-19 patients at St. Elizabeth. The patients fi ll a 14-bed ICU, and there is an adjacent unit with about 20 beds, too, and while it isn’t technically an ICU, it is outfi tted with everything needed to function as one. Both areas, Ernst says, are nearly full. The patients face medical caregivers in white jumpsuits with high boot covers and three pairs of gloves, each covering the other. Each is a different color so that any tears can be spotted quickly. They all wear a PAPR (pronounced PAP-ar), or powered airpurifying respirator, which covers the head and shields the face and blows a continuous plume of air. Over the jumpsuit goes what the team jokingly calls the “blue table cloth,” a blue sheet that, Ernst says, “covers everything.” Those who enter a room in full gear plan to stay for four hours. This, Ernst says, provides for not only continuous care but bonding with the patient. “The beauty of being in a PAPR for four hours is, it does give us time to be present with the patient,” she says. These patients, who’ve surrendered their lives to her team, can see their caregiver behind the apparatus. “You can still see the nurse’s eyes,” Ernst says. “You can see a smile. See ST. E TEAM, Page 2A

A note to readers In keeping with best practices that have been put in place across the newspaper industry, the Community Recorder is phasing out its youth carrier program and replacing it with an adult delivery force. This decision was not made lightly. The tradition of “paper boys” and “paper girls” delivering the newspaper is a nostalgic part of our history. But in the interest of youth safety, we believe it’s the right thing to do. The change will take eff ect with May editions. In the meantime, please continue doing business with your youth carrier and thank them for their dedication and service. We also thank them for bringing you the Community Recorder each week and being a vital part of our team. Future editions of your newspaper will include a pre-addressed envelope for mailing your subscription payment.

Vol. 144 No. 24 © 2020 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00

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