Sacramento County 911 emergency dispatch center has 9 employees test COVID-19 positive
Fire officials on Friday announced a coronavirus outbreak at a dispatch center that receives 911 emergency calls in Sacramento County, where nine employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
Tyler Wagaman, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Fire/EMS Communication Center, said he could not provide any details about the health status of the employees infected with the virus. It was unclear when these employees tested positive.
“None of them has any interaction with the public as part of their job duties,” Wagaman said in a news release. “And, when members of our community call 911 for fire, medical or other emergency, they can be assured their call will be managed by a trained public safety dispatcher and fire personnel will be deployed to assist them.“
The center provides emergency dispatch services for publicly-funded firefighting agencies in Sacramento County. The center’s dispatchers handle more than 300,000 emergency calls in about 200,000 incidents per year, according to its website.
Wagaman said the dispatch center is continuing to follow safety practices implement health guidelines issued by the county, California and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect employees from exposure to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
“As soon as we became aware of the first positive test, we implemented our comprehensive, rapid testing program to determine the extent of the outbreak and to inform our action steps,” Wagaman said. “This testing program will continue as we determine when it is safe for individual employees to return or identify any additional cases.”
Sacramento County has reported a total of 32,865 lab-positive coronavirus cases and 546 resident deaths from the virus. The county set a record high Thursday with 559 new COVID-19 cases, then reported 454 more on Friday.
The dispatch center will cover medical treatment costs for its employees, Wagaman said, and employees infected with the virus have up to 80 hours of paid leave time if they can’t return to work due to COVID-19 illness or quarantine. He said the employees also are eligible for longer-term income benefits under state law.
“Due to technology requirements of emergency dispatch services, this work cannot be performed off-site,” Wagaman said. “As critical public safety infrastructure, the Communications Center remains fully operational. We have a robust plan to maintain staffing and continue operations.
“This outbreak is another reminder that the virus is surging in our community and we all must be vigilant about containing its spread.”
