ROCKLAND — Rockland EMS has managed, thus far, to stay above the station shutdowns that have sent other organizations into quarantine. The road, however, has been long and exhausting – and nowhere close to finished.

As N95 masks again vanish from easy access, and a new culprit aids in the growth of foggy lenses, the department is seeking to add another recently accessible tool to its defense against COVID-19, following along with local hospital employees and laboratories using similar PPE respirators.

On Monday, Dec. 14, Rockland City Council members approved using $10,000 from the EMS reserve account for headcoverings and air circulation equipment that will allow fresh oxygen to be blown into those headpieces.

The Powered Air Purifying Respirator 3M Versaflo N300+ (aka PAPR) will again increase the amount of equipment for the department to maintain, yet will reduce a critical hindrance to patient care.

And now, as Rockland EMS, along with Union Ambulance, has been designated as a distributer of COVID-19 vaccines for Knox County’s first responders, needs for protection are heightened even more.

Currently, EMS responders responding to suspected, or assumed, COVID-19 patients wear goggles and/or face shields. The longer the provider wears the gear, the more sweat builds up, leading to condensation blocking the view of the medical procedure in process. The return of colder weather and the crew’s movement from cold air to warm air continue to plague visibility through the lenses.

“It just makes it hard to do some of the skills and the kinds of requirements that we need to handle in the back of an ambulance,” said Rockland Fire/EMS Chief Chris Whytock.

Estimated at between $1,200 and $1,400 per setup, the six requested devices will be used solely in the treatment of suspected COVID patients, according to Whytock.

Rockland EMS has already acquired one PAPR in order to get a hands-on understanding of its function. It has not been used yet. But when it is, it, and the other five requested headpieces will be dispersed among the three ambulances and worn by the first two crew members who enter the home and who come into contact with the patient.

After patient care, these reusable PAPR facemasks will be decontaminated and left to dry for a day while personnel use spares – also included in Rockland EMS’ funding request.

The pumps (air filtration system) attached to the waistpacks are expected to last about a year, according to Whytock.

In a year, the department will have made good use of the equipment, especially if local medical centers get to a “surge point.” EMS has a protocol ready that will permit paramedic treatment of Covid patients in their homes, allowing for the postponement of hospital visits.

“That will require us to be inside somebody’s home a lot longer than we normally would be,” he said. “This [PAPR] just adds another level of protection above and beyond what we already were doing.”

Protection is the offense and the defense of EMS. Since June, Rockland’s crew has been wearing face coverings at all times inside the station, which has been rearranged to allow crew to be 6 feet apart at all times as well.

Due to good communication, Rockland EMS was aware of a COVID outbreak at Woodland’s Memory Care Center before the Maine CDC was even informed, allowing for EMS to continue to treat all residents of the facility while on high alert for contamination.

“Our response time – our ability to just show up and go walking into somebody’s house – is the thing of the past,” said Whytock.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Rockland’s emergency medical response to suspected COVID-19 patients has not only involved two EMS providers in an ambulance, but a third member – a duty officer — follows behind in another vehicle. That third member typically assists with dressing an EMS provider in PPE, as well with moving equipment around outside of the home, preparing the back of the ambulance before any contamination has occurred, and most importantly, to point out any incorrect wearing of that PPE.

Nine months in, the crew still must answer the same questions by 911 callers: Why the delay in coming to the patient’s side? Why so much gear?

“It’s been a pretty exhausting effort to try to make sure that people are healthy and safe,” he said. “It’s definitely been taxing.”

Gear can be replaced. People can’t.

Some Rockland Fire and EMS personnel have had to quarantine for individual reasons, according to Whytock, but the situations plaguing entire teams, such as Portland Fire Department and North East Mobile Health have not appeared in Rockland. The threat is still real, but with advanced equipment, the risk continue to lessen.

“That doesn’t mean that something wont happen,” said Whytock. “I think the reason that it hasn’t happened is because we’ve been very mindful of it. It goes back to the people that are working here. They’re just quality people that take their profession very seriously.”

A couple months ago, Rockland EMS and Thomaston Fire successfully resuscitated a worker at Lowe’s who suffered cardiac arrest. By that time, Rockland had already begun employing its mechanical CPR devices, and used it during the Lowe’s call.

The CPR devices reduce the need for 6 or 8 people standing in a crowded room, according to Whytock. Each call still requires an initial 6-8 personnel to get the system in place. But then only 2 or 3 people must remain, limiting the crew’s exposure, as far as COVID is concerned.

As licensed emergency medical responders, Rockland EMS will be in Phase 1 of the vaccine recipients, according to Whytock, during the City Council meeting. The Chief, himself, plans to be first in line for his crew as an act of leadership, and to provide comfort to the community.

“We’ve taken it [the pandemic] seriously from the start, and we’ve got good quality people working here,” said Whytock. “And I don’t have to worry about them because they are going to do exactly what they are supposed to do.”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com