New infectious disease paramedics answering Hamilton's highest-risk calls amid COVID-19

Jay Lawrence and Tyler Wall loaded an ambulance with specialized gear Sunday morning and headed out into a city gripped by COVID-19, prepared to spend their entire shift answering Hamilton's highest-risk calls.

The pair are part of a newly created 12-person team ofinfectious disease paramedics,charged with responding to patients who have screened positive for the novel coronavirus and handlingmore complicated cases includingcardiac arrests.

They volunteered for the job.

"It's an opportunity to try Hamilton's first specialty team," said Wall."This is the very first truck that's evergoing to roll out. I think it's going to be interesting to try to be part of it."

Not everyone is as thrilled about the idea.

"I'm sure my wife isn't super happy about it," Wall added."She's like, 'It's so dangerous' and I said, 'We'd go to the call anyway. This is just a chance to have a little extra protection and help your other medics, too.'"

Lawrence and Wallcompleted a 12-hour training sessionpulled together by Hamilton EMS superintendent Dave Thomsponwhilethe number of COVID-19 cases in Hamilton ballooned in recent weeks.

The infectious disease paramedics are equipped withpowered air purifying respirators (PAPRs)which include full face masksconnected by a breathinghose that purifies the air the paramedics arebreathing in.

"It looks like a space odyssey," joked Lawrence.

But even though they look like something from another planet, the paramedics want you to know they come in peace and they're here to help.

Out in the field they'll take on a leadership role and act as novel coronavirus experts with an understanding"right down to the cellular level of how we think COVID is attacking people," explained Thompson.

"These guys are prepared," he said.

That's important, because unlike other emergency services, they're fighting an enemy that's all but invisible.

"The risks are really unseen here, which is a little different than a structure fire or somebody coming at you with a knife or a gun," said Thompson. "It's a different sort of danger these guys are exposed to."

Lawrence wasn't deterred by the risk. He sawjoining the infectious disease team as a chance to build out his skill set and try something new.

In some ways, knowing every call you're going to could be COVID-19 related means there are fewer unknowns and it's easier to prepare for, he added.

"Obviously everybody's worried about it. Everybody's kind of on edge, buteverybody's still outdoing the same things we were two months ago," said Lawrence. "The virus is a scary thing. But it's no different than any of the other calls we do."

It takes about five minutes to get into the gowns, gloves and eye protection that makeupthe paramedics' specialkit.

That might not seem like a very long time, but for two people used to grabbing their gear and rushing in to help in an emergency, every second spent getting readyseems to stretch on.

Still, covering yourself from head to toe for every call does offer a sense of security.

"You have to trust your equipment and trust the people you're working with that you're not going to put yourselves at any more risk than needed," said Lawrence.

'This isn't the plague'

Like mostpersonal protective equipment,PAPRsare almost impossible to get now, Thompson said.

He said the only reason the service was able to get its hands on enough for the team is because managers were watching what was happening in China and immediately recognized it could come here.

"I think Hamilton is probably the first [place] to actually get it out there on the road. It's awesome," saidBev Dunn, commander of operations with the Hamilton Paramedic Service.

Other services have already contacted her to ask about how they can set up infectious disease teams of their own, she added.

What exactly the Hamiltonsquad's role lookslikewill probably change,along with the virus.

Right now one aspectis preparing the public for what the paramedicsare going to look like.

"Don't be alarmed. This isn't the plague,"said Dunn. "This is just extra protection for ourselves, for the people around us and for our patients."

The idea of an infectious disease team for Hamilton was actually born during theEbola scare. In 2014, the city put together a team and outfitted a special ambulance during Ebola as Hamilton Health Sciences was named one of 10 referring hospitals in the province. Dunn said that experience helped thempull together the COVID-19team and get it on thestreets so quickly.

That level of preparation could save lives in the future, too.

"You change it from Ebola to this, and then on to the next because we know this isn't going to the last," said Dunn.