After on-duty deaths from COVID-19, how can KCFD keep firefighters and the public safe?

The recent COVID-19-related deaths of two members of the Kansas City Fire Department were a heartbreaking and stark reminder of the added peril our first responders are facing every day during this pandemic.

The line-of-duty deaths of Fire Captain Robert “Bobby” Rocha and Scott Davidson, a paramedic and communication specialist, should spur a fresh look at whether more could be done to keep firefighters and EMTs safe on the job.

Close to 200 of 1,300 fire department employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, according to department officials — an alarming number that continues to climb.

Fire personnel such as Rocha and Davidson risk their lives and well-being. They deserve our gratitude for working on the frontlines during this public health crisis — but they also deserve every protection available.

The Kansas City Fire Department’s current policy is creating unnecessary health risks for firefighters, EMTs and the public. Firefighters and medics are not required to quarantine if they have been exposed to COVID-19 but are asymptomatic. Testing is available, but not mandatory.

Kansas City fire personnel with coronavirus-like symptoms are sent home to isolate for 12 days if they test positive and are retested on the 14th day, Kansas City Fire Inspector Jason Spreitzer said. They aren’t allowed back on the job until they’re virus-free.

But fire personnel who have been exposed to COVID-19 and don’t have symptoms can still infect their colleagues — and the public.

On the job, firefighters live in close quarters, where COVID-19 can spread quickly. Firefighters and other emergency personnel are also in the community and in contact with the public daily. If they’re not taking every precaution, they’re contributing to uncontrolled spread in Kansas City.

Many people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, but they can still infect others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After exposure to the coronavirus, a 14-day quarantine is the safest approach to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workforce, the CDC says.

KC Mayor Lucas: ‘These are avoidable deaths’

Will the Kansas City Fire Department adjust its policy to protect its personnel? Even one line-of-duty death is one too many. COVID-19 now has claimed three lives in the department, which should be a call to action.

“These are avoidable deaths,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “We have to do everything we can to protect front-line workers.”

While overtime and sick pay for workers forced to sit out could prove costly, they are simply a necessary expense during this outbreak. Leadership inside and outside the fire department must continue to reimagine how to operate during a pandemic.

Lucas suggested that Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties could help cover extra expenses with unused federal relief funds.

For example, Jackson County received nearly $123 million in CARES Act funding, and close to $70 million hasn’t been spent, according to the mayor’s office. The more money available to defray the costs associated with a quarantine mandate or mandatory testing, the safer first responders will be, Lucas said.

Rocha, who was 60, was a 29-year veteran of the fire department. He died Nov. 21 after a weeks-long battle with COVID-19 and will be buried Monday. Davidson, who was 45, died the next day. He spent 18 years as a paramedic with the department. He was laid to rest Saturday.

The deaths were the department’s second and third line-of-duty fatalities attributed to COVID-19. Billy Birmingham, a 69-year-old emergency medical technician, died in April of complications from the respiratory disease.

Rocha was exposed on the job on Nov. 1, department officials said, and his infection was considered work-related.

Details about how Davidson contracted the disease weren’t publicly known. Firefighters led a procession last week to Davidson’s hometown of Wichita to honor their fallen colleague.

Bringing exposed individuals who are not symptomatic back to work should not be the first option in managing critical work tasks, according to the CDC’s most recent guidelines for critical infrastructure workers. That policy should only be used as a last resort.

Staffing needs inside the Kansas City Fire Department no doubt would make quarantining a challenge. But the alternative is putting the health of hundreds more firefighters and EMTs at risk.

Fire department personnel who test positive for COVID-19 are assumed to have contracted the virus on the job. Employees are eligible for taxpayer-funded health benefits and treatment and don’t have to use personal paid time off work, department officials said.

Several measures are in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within the department, including a mask mandate announced last month by Fire Chief Donna Lake. Personnel were already required to wear masks when treating patients. Exposed workers are encouraged to social distance — an unrealistic directive inside the cramped quarters of a firehouse.

The best way to honor Birmingham, Rocha, and Davidson is to protect other firefighters and EMTs from COVID-19. As Kansas City mourns the loss of these heroic public servants, every precaution must be taken to keep others safe and healthy.

This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.