MAINE, Maine — At the Cumberland County 911 Dispatch Center, the work never stops. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, dispatchers are working extra hard to protect first responders.
"At least the medical responders that we're sending to those places know exactly what they're getting into," 911 Center Director Bill Holmes said.
Holmes said dispatchers are screening callers for possible coronavirus by asking a series of questions.
"Has the patient or anyone else been around anyone presumed positive? Is the person a healthcare worker? And then we ask the specific questions of the flu like symptoms. Have you had the chills, the fever?" Holmes said.
This way, first responders can be prepared with the proper equipment, so they don't get sick.
"Armed and forearmed with that information about potential risks is critical to them," Holmes said.
The center is also working to keep dispatchers healthy by putting them in separate rooms, not letting visitors in, and changing dispatchers' schedules, so the primary line of communication between the public and first responders is protected.