HOUSTON — COVID-19 continues to spread across the area, and Houston's Fire Department is especially feeling the brunt of this latest delta surge.
First responders are stretched thin right now, and it's starting to be felt across the city.
"They are battle weary," said HFD Chief Sam Peña. "It's essentially a sustained hurricane response for a year and a half, putting pressure on our ability to maintain operations."
Peña said this latest COVID-19 surge is the worst one yet. 60 firefighters are currently out with COVID. Another 40 to 50 are out dealing with lingering effects from the virus.
"Even though they aren't positive, we don't have them available for staffing," Peña said.
And that is creating problems, because the work hasn't stopped. It's only increased.
"We're definitely seeing an unprecedented number of 911 calls," Peña said.
HFD is now responding to more than 1,200 calls per day. That's a 20-percent increase, and the majority of those calls are related to COVID symptoms.
"The demand is outpacing our capacity," Peña said.
That's translating to longer response times when you need 911. The problem has now worsened as paramedics are also facing increased wait times offloading patients from the ambulance to the ER.
"A few weeks ago, we had someone on our stretcher for five hours," Peña said. "That's not good for the patient, not good for EMTs and not good for the community waiting for an ambulance."
HFD has 104 ambulances fully staffed every day. But availability during peak call times in recent months has dropped to below 30 percent. Peña is asking folks to only call 911 in the event of an emergency.
"This pandemic and this issue is affecting not just those that are sick; it's effecting everybody else," Peña said.
Chief Peña said HFD is strongly encouraging its firefighters to get vaccinated. As for all of us, the best way to help first responders is to roll up your sleeves and wear a mask when indoors.