Editorial: Unfortunately, first responders must assume risks with every call
No one wants police or emergency personnel to face an unnecessary risk when responding to a call for help. So, does that mean that county health departments should release to local officials the addresses of every patient who has been treated or tested positive for COVID-19?
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, whose town is locked in a conflict with Cook County health officials similar to clashes that have occurred in Lake and McHenry counties, likened the issue to pitting the privacy interests of "convicted criminals" released from jail because of coronavirus concerns against the safety interests of first responders. Would that the matter were that simple. It is not.
The interests at stake apply to a much broader population than the comparatively small sample of potential COVID-19 victims who spent time in county custody. It's the interest of that broad population - indeed of anyone who may have occasion to call on the emergency services of police, fire or medical personnel - that must be taken into account, and as the Lake County Health Department indicated in a statement on the issue, there is abundant precedent for protecting the privacy and health interests of people in varied circumstances, including HIV, hepatitis or other contagious illnesses.
"You must assume that in every home and business that you enter, every person you encounter could be infected and contagious," Lake County Health Department executive director Mark Pfister said in a statement released Friday referring to emergency personnel.
He noted that the issue isn't merely a matter of the patients' privacy, but also applies to the responders' personal safety, since the information may lead them to a false sense of security at locations not identified as COVID-19 risks.
A judge's ruling in McHenry County last week aimed for a compromise, ordering health officials to release identifications confidentially and for 911 dispatch systems to purge them seven days after a patient is deemed no longer contagious.
Such a solution may at first seem reasonable, but it doesn't overcome the matter of a responder's potentially unwarranted sense of security and it suggests a complicated system of reporting that will become increasingly difficult to manage as the virus spreads.
Officials with the Northwest Central Dispatch System say they're still negotiating with Cook County health officials. Perhaps they'll find some perfect solution that will assure the safety and privacy of everyone involved. We hope they do.
But whatever agreement they reach, it won't override Pfister's warning that first responders must be prepared for whatever they may encounter on a call.
"Please protect yourself during all of your interactions with the community," he said. "This is the only way you can keep yourself, your loved ones, your colleagues and the community safe."