Coronavirus monitoring: Which channels to watch?
- Thread starter SpectrumKing
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From what I understand.. The new test that's being fast tracked has as short as 4 hours from test to results..
This morning's update has four confirmed cases in Anne Arundel, up from three; the state total has increased to 85 from 57; the majority of cases are still in the suburban DC counties: 51 cases up from 38. Seeing increases in the Central MD counties in the Baltimore region. Still only one case on the Eastern Shore.
For anyone curious testing on few uhf federal interops for FEMA in p25 clear and some encryption today but you wont miss much at this time with what was said. Mostly testing for el paso region.
Thursday COVID-19 confirmed cases for Maryland continue to increase, rising to 107 from yesterday's 85 or roughly doubling over the past two days. Anne Arundel's caseload increased from four to five; while Howard County's spiked to 15. The suburban DC counties also increased to 56 from 51, while the Eastern Shore remains at one.
I've been mapping all dispatches that have been associated with "possible PUI" for Anne Arundel County the past few days (the pink X's indicate positive indication by dispatch/EMD of possible PUI criteria being met; an interesting finding is that many of the PUI calls have been reported at urgent care facilities and senior living facilities; as of 1849 EDT on Thursday, 19 March 2020, 115 locations have been flagged PUI, 147 not marked PUI, 82 unknown if PUI, and 344 not being applicable [indication that it was recorded before PUI tracking was initiated]). Their criteria seems to vary each day: last Thursday, it seemed like any (1) Sick person w/ abnormal breathing (Protocol 26C02) or (2) breathing problems (Protocol 6) was being treated as possible PUI; earlier this week, they began to reign in the overtriage and use the Emerging Infectious Disease Tool with the specific COVID-19 update and practically every (1) Protocol 6 - Breathing Problems or (2) Protocol 26 - Sick Person (not just 26C02) was being identified as PUI; lately, with the updated CDC clinical criteria and associated update to EMD screening guidelines, the question, "Does anyone on the scene have a fever or the presence of cough?" has been capturing not only (1 & 2) Protocols 6 and 26, but even more broad Protocols (e.g., 31 - Unconscious/Fainting or 10 - Chest Pain). Likewise, I believe they've reconfigured their response protocols to treat 26C02, 06C01, and 06C02 (among others, most likely) as Delta Responses (.d) instead of the default Charlie (.c).
Thoughts?
I'm just watching the confirmed cases; seems to me that every respiratory illness should be treated as a PUI, for the safety of the pre-hospital responders. There is an issue in another state about personnel not being told if a pt. tested positive for COVID-19 for privacy reasons, which is the #1 reason why HIPAA privacy rules need to be revisited.
As far as most calls being at urgent care or senior living facilities makes perfect sense to me.
As far as most calls being at urgent care or senior living facilities makes perfect sense to me.
Is this a live map?
Today confirmed caseload has continued to climb. Anne Arundel now has 10 confirmed cases, doubling from yesterday's five. The Eastern Shore has two additional cases, one in Worcester and one in Wicomico. The DC suburbs have a total of 82, an increase of 26 cases. Significant increases in Howard, Baltimore, and Baltimore City, totaling 42 cases. Overall, the state's case count increased by 42 cases to 149. There have been several respiratory distress transports from a single nursing facility in the Annapolis area over the past few days.
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It's manually updated but with all my free time...
They have a number of TGs on the state's FIRST system, but most are ENC.
boatbod
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I can't speak for other companies, but I know that we are treating every "breathing difficulties" call as potential PUI until we get sufficient information from the patient and family to make a more informed decision. Our dispatchers are screening every call (including police requests) so there is a lot of due diligence being carried out. It won't catch every instance of a symptomless infection, but believe me when I say we are being very cautious.
Continuing the daily statewide tally, the caseload of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state increased to 190 from 149. The DC suburban counties continue to report the majority of confirmed cases, increasing to 104 from 82; Baltimore City and surrounding Baltimore area counties have reported 58 cases. Calvert reported its first case, and Charles now has four cases. Wicomico added one case for a total of two, while Western Maryland counties have yet to confirm a single case. Anne Arundel (also included in Baltimore region case count) now has 15 cases, up from 10 the day before.
The dispatch protocol in AACo *seems* to be an initial call type announcement, either "trouble breathing" or "respiratory distress," or non-specifically, a "sick person." Then the call is updated when responding units check on the air with "possible PUI." Not sure what is contained in the CAD notes. Once ready for transport, an EMS officer or paramedic might update, either confirming PUI status, or sometimes not a PUI. I would think that a dispatch to a healthcare facility, aka urgent care, nursing home or doctor's office would have a more definite PUI status attached to the callout.
I think precautionarily, all Protocol 6 (Breathing Problems) and Protocol 26-D-1, 26-B-1, 26-C-2, 26-A-12 (Sick Person: Not Alert; Sick Person: Unknown Status; Sick Person: Abnormal Breathing; Sick Person: Coronavirus Illness [suspected]) are assumed as "possible PUI". Additionally, those protocols along with all medical calls where there's suspected COVID-19 symptoms are followed-up with the Emerging Infectious Disease Tool (EIDT) which has a specific COVID-19 configuration which EMD/calltakers use to determine if PUI criteria are met.
For Shortwave.
So is the protocol numbering system that you mention something that MIEMSS has standardized, is it an Anne Arundel County system, or is it something that the CAD vendor created? Do you by chance have a sharable reference that defines all the protocols?
Anne Arundel Police 911 dispatchers and call takers have been divided into two groups. Some are operating at the RCC and the others at main center. I have noticed radio id's from the RCC and the main center have been showing up for the past couple days.
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