ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Among those warning against reopening the economy too quickly as coronavirus cases fall, is a top official at one of the nation's leading providers of emergency medical services.
Joe Grygiel is Vice President, Base Operations at Abbott Ambulance and Air Evac Lifeteam, a division of Global Medical Response. He tells KMOX even though people are anxious to get out and about, we can't go back to what was normal. "If we do that we risk a second spike.When we risk a second spike it's just going to be an increased demand on all the first responders, all the personal protective equipment, just all the dollars associated with this," he says.
And those dollars are adding up. Grygiel says because Global Medical Response is so big, 38,000 employees, it is able to get PPE. However, the costs are increasing along with the use, especially of N95 masks. "(Before) You might use it one time during the year. Now, you're using three different N95's in the same day. The amount we're using now has far exceeded anything I've ever seen in my over 25 years in EMS."
Adding to the cost, Grygiel says, is paying overtime to EMT's who have to work in place of others who are battling the virus.