Instead of gathering in a room for roll call each morning, Aurora police officers are sitting in their squad cars and calling in.
Instead of rushing into a building as they respond to a call of someone sick, Aurora paramedics are sometimes sending just one person to the doorway to assess the situation.
This is the new normal for first responders amid the coronavirus.
Police and fire department officials are changing their practices and taking extra precautions to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, including limiting face-to-face interactions when possible, activating a virtual incident command center and screening some 911 callers for symptoms of the virus.
Officials said they will continue to respond to any emergencies, but they are trying to keep the virus from wiping out an entire workforce and avoid spreading it further among the public.
Aurora Fire Chief Gary Krienitz said new screening measures are in place and paramedics have changed the way they respond to medical emergency calls in response to the outbreak of the virus.
During every 911 call for a medical emergency, dispatchers ask a series of questions such as whether the caller has a fever and who they’ve encountered. The information is entered into the dispatch computer system and announced verbally over the radio.
When paramedics arrive on scene, sometimes a single firefighter will approach the door as other responders wait at a safe distance, Krienitz said. Medics might ask the patient to come outside, if possible. They will again ask screening questions on site, and then make a determination about the appropriate response and necessary protective equipment.
“We’re prepared for it,” Krienitz said. “We just need people to be truthful and honest when they call, and thankfully that’s happening.”
More calls are coming in for medical emergencies and those calls are becoming more complex and taking longer as dispatchers and paramedics follow the new procedures, Krienitz said. He called an additional ambulance into service Monday morning to handle the increasing complexity.
The new practices are intended to allow paramedics to minimize the risk that they encounter an unknown situation and end up spreading the coronavirus, Krienitz said.
Also seeking to slow the spread of the virus by limiting face-to-face interactions, police are now taking nonemergency reports via phone and are deciding how to respond to calls on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity of the call, Aurora police spokesman Paris Lewbel said. That includes evaluating whether it is a crime in-progress or a violent call. Officers inside the station are handling non-priority responses where reports can be generated over the phone, like reports made for insurance or a damaged car with no evidence.
Already, an Aurora police officer in the supervisory staff has tested positive for COVID-19. Police said Saturday the person is expected to make a full recovery.
In the fire department, meanwhile, Krienitz said no firefighters or paramedics have been tested for the virus, and none of his staff were ill or showing symptoms of COVID-19. At various times some have self-isolated because of concerns they might have come in contact with a patient with the virus, but in those cases none of the patients tested positive, he said.
In the wake of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, Lewbel said the department is focusing on educating residents rather than disciplining them.
“If we notice people out in groups congregating, we’ll try our best to educate them and suggest them to go inside,” Lewbel said. “In no means is this supposed to be martial law or a police state. We need everyone’s cooperation.”
Recent rumors on Facebook of police officers stopping people for driving and asking where they are going are not true, Lewbel said.
“We are not stopping people,” Lewbel said. “We are still here, though, to respond to urgent matters. This is not a free-for-all for people who want to do bad in our community.”
The department is also relying on community policing as many people are home, Lewbel said.
“If you see something, say something,” Lewbel said. “Don’t necessarily call us, but be a good neighbor and educate them if you see a large group congregating outside in the neighborhood.”
Lewbel said police calls and traffic crashes have already decreased as people are staying home and businesses are closed. The department saw 205 calls for service on Sunday and 231 on Saturday. In 2019, the department had an average of 409 calls a day.
City leaders are also working to respond to the spread of the virus through their emergency operations center.
During a more traditional emergency, such as a tornado, city leaders and decision makers meet at the emergency operations center and develop plans to address the situation, and then others in the city work to support the plan, said Krienitz, who is the point person in the center for the virus outbreak.
Now, he said, the emergency operations center has gone virtual as all residents, including city leaders, are urged to keep their distance from one another. Daily meetings now take place via phone conference instead of in-person, he said.
Dispatchers, too, are distancing themselves. The dispatch center has been split, with some employees working out of police headquarters and others at a different site. The measure is intended both to try to prevent the spread of the virus and to ensure that if some dispatchers do contract the illness, it will not spread to all of them.
First responders are also social distancing from each other. While traditionally police officers used to have to go into a sergeant’s office to get common items, like radio batteries, now the items are dispersed throughout the department to avoid congregating.
Krienitz urged residents to remain calm, and not to call 911 at the initial onset of symptoms. That could cause paramedics and emergency rooms to become overburdened, and reduce the availability of protective equipment. Instead, he said those who feel ill should first call a doctor, and those with general questions about the virus should call the Illinois Department of Public Health’s coronavirus hotline.