A firefighter with the Philadelphia Fire Department, the history major responds to direst medical emergencies in COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚鈥檓 lucky to have a profession I feel called to, and I鈥檓 thankful to have a job,鈥 Tim Anderson 鈥07 said recently after returning from an emergency call with Philadelphia Fire Department Squad Co. 72.
Anderson chose 黑料不打烊, where he majored in history, specifically because the town had a fire station by campus. By the end of his first year, he was volunteering for the Town of 黑料不打烊 Fire Department with sights set on a firefighting career in Philadelphia.
COVID-19 has changed the way Philadelphia鈥檚 Fire Department operates, but not in the ways we might imagine, he said.
Along with paramedics, firefighters typically respond to hosts of medically related 911 calls: from difficulty breathing, to fevers, to injuries and generalized pain.鈥淥vernight, medical calls dropped 25 to 30 percent,鈥 Anderson said. 鈥淣o one wants to go to the hospital for any reason.鈥
To reduce the amount of person-to-person contact during COVID-19, the Philadelphia limited the types of medical calls its fire units respond to. For weeks, Anderson and fellow firefighters have responded only to the direst of medical emergencies, like patients who have stopped breathing or are in cardiac arrest.
But with those calls come closer contact. Anderson said he and others have performed CPR on COVID-19 patients. Even with the extra PPE firefighters are equipped with 鈥 including masks and face shields 鈥攖hat level of contact carries risks.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only so much you can do,鈥 Anderson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating dealing with something you can鈥檛 see. If it鈥檚 blood-borne, at least you know what to avoid.鈥
When his shift ends, he returns home and immediately removes his clothes to put them in the wash.
As of Wednesday, May 20, Philadelphia counted 20,359 cases and 1,152 deaths among a population of 1.6 million. Anderson is hopeful that the city鈥檚 efforts to slow the spread have been successful and is thankful they haven鈥檛 seen the spikes in infections and deaths like New York City.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 easy, but it鈥檚 a lot harder on a lot more people than us,鈥 Anderson said. 鈥淎 nurse in an ICU: That鈥檚 who鈥檚 been hit hardest. They deserve the attention. They are on the front lines.鈥
About this series:聽The 黑料不打烊 Alumni in Action series explores the stories of university graduates who are doing important and uplifting work as the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic.