Covid-19 fight becomes personal for GFD

The fight against Covid-19 has become  personal for the Grafton Fire Department after a volunteer tested positive for the virus.

“At the end of the day, we will never know how that person became infected. It will be virtually impossible to determine,” Grafton Fire Chief William Rice said.

“We know what calls the individual was on and what protective equipment the individual wore when they were on those calls. We know whether the individual was exposed directly to people who had been infected or whether they were not.”

Rice said he doesn’t believe the volunteer was exposed at Village Pointe Commons, where 13 people have tested positive and four have died.

Of the two volunteers who worked with the infected department member, one is working regular hours and the other has reduced hours, Rice said. 

The department is taking extra precautions for every call by having members wear Hazmat-splash suits and having one person enter a building to assess the situation before others come in to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus.    

“We’re treating every call as a potentially infected person. When we learn somebody has some of the symptoms, we take even more precautions,” Rice said.

“Even if the patient calls for something that isn’t related to the coronavirus, we’re going to assume the person might have it. We’re trying to reduce the potential for our workforce to get infected.”

The department has more than 60 volunteers, half of whom are paramedics. About 15 paramedics are unable to work because employers and family members are asking the volunteers to remain at home.

“I have to accept that and hope this period passes quickly,” Rice said. “This whole outbreak has had a huge impact on volunteer departments like ours.”

Rice said it is difficult staffing daytime shifts, adding that one of his three full-time firefighters/paramedics will soon be on medical leave unrelated to the virus.

“We’re struggling, but we’re getting by,” he said, noting the department still has two ambulances staffed during the day.

Rice said the department has been stocking up on personal protective equipment through county, state and regular vendors as well as online vendors like Amazon.

“Our supplies are good. Depending on how the future goes, if we stay at the same rate we’re on right now, I think we’re going to be OK with supplies,” said Rice, noting members are using reusable industrial masks that are similar to N95 respirator masks.

Rice said it has been difficult to find reasonably priced  medical equipment. Infrared thermometers that typically cost $50 are now $80, he noted.

“We saw some thermometers in the $600 range,” Rice said. 

Grafton Town Chairman Lester Bartel has urged residents to not have any controlled burns on their property to eliminate unnecessary calls.

“If we have to respond to a large prairie burn that is pretty typical in the Town of Grafton or a large brush pile somebody is burning, that will not only tie up our entire fire department, we will most likely need help from neighboring departments,” Rice said. 

Rice lauded his staff for its work during the pandemic.

“As fire chief, I am worried about the health of my workforce and their families. This won’t go away for a while. These young men and women are stepping up and doing some very challenging work,” he said. 

“We are going into people’s homes every day with people we are assuming have been infected. It’s stressful, but our organization — like the neighboring departments in the county — is doing a very good job of taking on this challenge and dealing with it.”