The community of Sun City West is the target population for the virus. We need to take action now because we want to do our due diligence to protect the virus from getting into our community.”

Eric Kriwer, Arizona Fire & Medical Authority deputy fire chief

WHAT IS IT?

The Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is a new respiratory virus first identified in Wuhan, China. It is believed to spread mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how flus spreads. Symptoms include mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

Visit www.azdhs.gov.

Arizona Fire & Medical Authority administrative office
18818 N. Spanish Garden Drive
Sun City West, AZ
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Sun Cities residents can rest assured they will be in good hands if the communities’ fire and medical departments are called to their homes while the coronavirus remains a concern.

Staff and units in the Sun City Fire and Medical Department and Arizona Fire & Medical Authority are prepared for the illness with the supplies and training they need. Both departments are operating business as usual in most respects.

Arizona Fire & Medical Authority officials began looking into the coronavirus Feb. 24 when it received information regarding the virus’s potential for growth, according to Eric Kriwer, AFMA deputy chief.

At that time an incident management, team made up of organization leadership, was put in place. AFMA Emergency Manager Kim Campbell helped provid the information to put together a preparation plan moving forward. The objective was to protect the public and Authority personnel.

“The community of Sun City West is the target population for the virus,” Mr. Kriwer said. “We need to take action now because we want to do our due diligence to protect the virus from getting into our community.”

Ms. Campbell said the Authority knew the virus was more severely impacting the older population and action needed to be taken to work on engaging everyone on the signs and symptoms utilizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Arizona Department of Health Services.

Mr. Kriwer commended Recreation Centers of Sun City West for its leadership.

“RCSCW elected to close early and that was a great show of leadership and that could have potentially saved lives in the community,” he said.

Part of the concern of the Authority is getting the message out to the community to shelter in place and not spread the virus. Ms. Campbell said 80 percent of the people who get the virus show mild symptoms and could be spreading the virus in public.

“It’s the community’s responsibility to control the spread for all of humankind,” Mr. Kriwer said. “And this is what we are doing as a community to prevent the spread and it started with closing the recreation centers and recommending the target group of 60 years and older self-quarantine.”

Mr. Kriwer said self-quarantining, social distancing, not touching faces and washing hands are key.

“This is not a drill. This is a life scenario and we can see the global impact,” he said. “We are not trying to raise unwarranted fear, but the awareness piece is key. We will mitigate this, but for now it is about saving as many lives as we can moving forward.”

Ms. Campbell said the Authority encourages the community to be proactive and keep a 14-21-day stockpile of food and necessary supplies, such as medication, as well as checking up on neighbors. One of the most important warnings is to only use 911 for life-threatening emergencies. Additionally, fire station visitors are no longer permitted .

“Signs and symptoms are not a life-threatening emergency and we have no way to test nor do we want to inundate the emergency system,” Mr. Kriwer explained. “Working through your primary care physician is the quickest way to get to testing. Refrain from going to hospitals with signs and symptoms, (since) you are doing more harm than good by exposing yourself.”

Crews are being monitored as well twice per day with a temperature check and signs or symptoms, ensuring they are ready to respond in an emergency situation. Crews are outfitted with personal protection equipment, including eye protection, a mask, gown or protective uniform and gloves. If patients are symptomatic, they too are being masked to stop the spread immediately. The back of ambulances are being decontaminated to ensure the risk is eliminated, per the CDC and state guidelines.

A response model and emergency staffing plans are place ready for use if the fire chief deems it necessary. A contingency of operations plan is utilized by the Authority in the event it needs to scale up or down and continue to maintain the vital components to ensure the continued quality of services.

“Our crews are trained on communicable diseases and have met with leadership to discuss how to properly place and remove personal protective equipment so as not expose themselves,” Mr. Kriwer said.

AFMA officials encourage the community to watch and pay attention to state health department websites and social media, as well as news agencies to stay informed. For information on COVID-19 in Maricopa County, call 844-542-8201.

SCFMD

Despite the difficulty of residents finding the most common home supplies, the Sun City Fire and Medical Department is finding no such difficulty with medical supplies it needs.

“We have a really good supply guy,” Ron Deadman, Sun City fire chief said. “He knows just what we need for the cold and flu season and keeps us well supplied.”

Randy Timan is the firefighter in charge of supplies for the department.

“We are well prepared,” he said.

Mr. Deadman said Maricopa County Emergency Management will help with supplies if necessary. But he is confident that will not be necessary.

Personnel are also prepared in terms of training, according to Mr. Deadman. All personnel received specific training to deal with severe viruses and they are continually learning more through video conferences and other methods, including daily updates on protocols from Jason Casey, the department’s communications manager, according to Mr. Deadman.

“Mostly, we need to be more aware of our environment, the people and other things around us,” Mr. Deadman said.

While for the most part it is business as usual for the Sun City department, some adjustments were made in services, according to Jim Fox, Sun City fire marshal. Department personnel will continue to install lock boxes at home and conduct commercial inspections. But volunteers will no longer go into homes to conduct residence surveys or install fire alarms.

“We don’t want to put our volunteers, who are all in the high-risk category, into situations where they could be exposed,” Mr. Fox said.

The risk is real for Sun City, as there were two confirmed cases in the community last week, according to Mr. Deadman. While he knew about the cases, he was not aware if they were residents in their own home or in one of the care facilities.

“We have not received calls about anyone who believed they were exposed,” Mr. Deadman said. “As far as we know, these are the only cases in Sun City.”

According to Maricopa County Department of Public Health records, those cases were at the Royal Oaks Lifecare Community, 10015 W. Royal Oaks Road. MCDPH officials are working with Royal Oaks staff to provide accurate and timely information.

Mr. Deadman said it is estimated about 70% of people will be infected by the corinavirus in some form. Those 50 or older and with chronic respiratory or other health problems are most at risk. The survival rate for those 50 and younger has been estimated at 97%-99%.

Sun City Fire and Medical Department’s total calls last year were about one-third cold and flu. Mr. Deadman said so far Sun City’s call volume has not exceeded the calls at the same time last year.

As a precaution this year, when units are sent on a call, only two are sent into a structure to check on patients, calling in others only when it is determined there is a need for more, according to Mr. Deadman.

“We’re taking enough precautions that we’ve had two complaints about us looking like we have hazmat suits on,” he said.