Police Chief Dan Faustino (left) and Fire Chief Dave Masirovits
Brookfield’s police and fire departments are still on the job in this time of the COVID-19 coronavirus, but they have changed the way they do things to try to meet the goal of stopping the spread of the virus.
The police have stopped going to medical calls unless they are requested to come and the police officers believe their response is needed, said Police Chief Dan Faustino. They are limiting their response in minor calls and, when they do respond, are asking people to meet them outside of buildings, when possible.
“Obviously, we have domestics and things that require us, burglaries, break-ins, to go in,” Faustino said.
The fire department has stopped conducting fire safety inspections, public outreach and fire prevention efforts and smoke detector installations, and closed the fire station to the public.
“That’s tough, because we’re community-based,” Masirovits said. “It’s always community first here. When we have to shut the doors and lock the windows or whatever, we have to work a whole different way than we’re used to working.”
Fire stations traditionally have been social gathering places, and closing the station to the public breaks a long-established routine, he said.
“We’re not seeing the public, we’re not seeing family, we’re not seeing friends,” Masirovits said. “Even off-duty firefighters are discouraged from coming to the station, even to retrieve personal items in their off time.”
Both department leaders said fears of the coronavirus have taken a toll on their staffs, although the policemen and firefighters have overall been healthy.
“It’s allergy season, and the weather’s back and forth,” Masirovits said. “You’ve got sniffles and sneezes and, ‘Oh my gosh! Do I have it or do I not have it?’ There’s just a lot of concern that guys are having to deal with in addition to their normal concerns for their safety and their well-being on the job.”
“This is something that I don’t believe any of us has been through,” Faustino said. “You’ve had some of the pandemics but not to the extent of this.”
The concerns stress people’s physical, mental and financial health, he said.
“Whether you’re a first responder, whether you’re an elected official, whether you’re a reporter, a plumber, carpenter, a hospital worker, you can’t have one of those without the other,” Faustino said. “Your physical health affects your mental health. Your financial health can affect your physical health, your mental health. They’re all tied together. This is gonna have an effect on everybody.”
Both chiefs have been involved in creating a Trumbull County Emergency Operations Center, which brings together fire and police departments, Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency, the hospitals, Trumbull County Combined Health District, private ambulance services and other entities that can play a role in public safety.
“It brings together a command structure from various entities, getting them to work together, to communicate, to provide guidance out to all the front-line workers in all positions that are out there serving the public,” Faustino said. “It helps you in logistics, finding and getting materials and supplies out to where they’re needed, staff out to where they’re needed.”
The center has increased communication, so ambulance personnel know how doctors at local hospitals want them to treat patients in certain situations, sought needed equipment for all agencies, and worked through scenarios such as if a police or fire department finds its staff depleted due to illness and/or quarantines.
