Suffolk EMS Agencies Bracing Against Wave Of COVID-19 Calls

BELLPORT, NY — On a normal day, the South Country Volunteer Ambulance Company would have seen only about eight calls. But on Wednesday at about 5 p.m., it was up to 13 — including two active calls that were COVID-19-related.

"So, we are experiencing an increase in call volume," said the agency's chief, Greg Miglino. "It's a mixture of people that have concerns about having COVID and people that actually have COVID symptoms that need to be treated in a hospital setting. They are legitimate calls in those cases. And even for the people that may not need a hospital stay, it's still legitimate because mentally they are concerned."

"We're seeing an across-the-board increase for a myriad of reasons at this time," he added.

Miglino, who also serves as the president of Suffolk's ambulance chiefs association, said that is also what is being related to him from his colleagues in emergency medical services.

"There's a marked increase in call volume related to this latest strain, and it seems to be picking up exponentially as the days go on," he said.

The exact number of call volume was unavailable at publication time.

The agency's personnel are wearing protective goggles and N95 masks, and they have respirators in cases where they feel it’s necessary. They have increased not only their personal protective equipment response but also their surveillance.

"Basically, what we are doing is we're assuming somebody's got COVID until proven otherwise," he said, adding that the response includes patients from those "who tell you they don't feel anything to people that are violently sick, mostly with respiratory issues."

He said the county's 25 percent positivity rate could be much higher because tests taken by people at home are not recorded, as they are by agencies that are mandated to report positive cases to government agencies.

With this new wave of cases, EMS providers such as Miglino are not seeing the same stressors as when the pandemic first struck. At the beginning of COVID-19, a lot was unknown. There was no PPE, and people were dying who were relatively healthy.

"The new variant seems to be weaker, and it seems to be having less of an effect on people that are vaccinated — especially if they got the booster," Miglino said. "So, from that point of view as an EMS leader, I'm glad that when I send my people out now they have the appropriate PPE and that the PPE is available. I'm glad that a lot of Americans have chosen to get vaccinated.”

“So, we are dealing with less-severe cases — but that doesn't mean that the system isn't stressed, because the call volume is again increasing," he said.

So far, South Country has not experienced a shortage in personnel, because it’s such a large organization that uses volunteers that can be rotated.

"That being said, we're dealing with facilities though like the hospitals and other paid providers that are experiencing extreme stress on the system right now," he said.

Hospital staff are burned out. There's a lack of beds and patients line the hallways because there aren't enough rooms as they wait for delayed care. In hospitals where there once was one nurse for every four or five patients, there now might be one nurse for seven or eight patients who might be sick with COVID-19.

That is what it looks like now in local hospitals, Miglino said.

"Inevitably, mistakes will happen," said Miglino, adding, "Not intentionally, but they will, and people will end up dying because there are just not enough providers there to adequately supervise them."

It's not only that the hospitals are down staffers due to the virus and quarantine precautions. There's also less staff because some have staffers have refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine, a requirement by the state.

Miglino said he disagrees with the leadership that President Joe Biden and Gov. Kathy Hochul have shown in responding to COVID-19. There has been "inconsistent messaging," said Miglino, referencing the recent change of quarantine time allowing a return to work after five days.

Miglino, who is fully vaccinated and adheres to masking protocols when appropriate, said he is 100 percent against "pushing out professional people or staff that are needed to treat the sick at this time."

"Because what we're doing is we're not only over-taxing the system and stressing the system," said Miglino, adding, "We're burning out the employees that are still left behind trying to care for the sick and injured, and ultimately, they're receiving — in some cases — subpar care because it's just physically impossible to handle this many patients with the amount of staff that's available."

Miglino described the pandemic as a fight for life.

"This is a worldwide pandemic that requires all hands on deck," he said. "And, this is no time to play politics. We need to take a scientific and evidentiary-based solution and apply it. We need to be consistent. Inconsistent messaging sends the wrong message to the public, and causes people to have doubt when they really shouldn't."