Disaster expert outlines how first responders will handle COVID-19
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to swell, first responders and emergency room personnel are squarely in the path of COVID-19. Against a backdrop of reports of tight supplies of personal protective equipment, the Gazette turned to Paul Biddinger, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Disaster Medicine, vice chairman for emergency preparedness in MGH’s Emergency Medicine Department, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, to describe the massive public health challenge facing police, fire, and emergency medical responders. Q&A Paul Biddinger GAZETTE: You were an EMT (emergency medical technician) at one point, weren’t you? BIDDINGER: I was. The whole reason I went into medicine was from being an EMT in New Jersey back in the ’80s. So it remains near to my heart. I work closely with a lot of first responders, and I certainly still see myself as a first responder in many ways. GAZETTE: We’ve heard about shortages of protective equipment, but what...