March 16, 2021 • Volume 24, Issue 6 • Complimentary • BlufftonSun.com
WEAR A MASK!
INSIDE • Young “doctor” opens stuffed animal hospital at home 12A • Sun City resident spreads cheer, good will throughout community 14A • New feature! 10 Hot Spots 18A • Restaurants top list of business updates 24A • Ballroom dance good for your health 36A • Doughtie daughter coming home 43A
COVID-19: A year later, life defined by continuity, flexibility By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR
Since the March 13, 2020, declaration of a South Carolina state of emergency due to the coronavirus COVID-19, every aspect of life has been impacted. As the restrictions continued month after month, organizations, businesses, and people said they were adapting as best they could. First responders – those on the front lines in emergencies – were among the most exposed when responding to emergency calls, and some safety protocols were changed immediately. “It’s definitely been different,” said Chief John Thompson of the Bluffton Township Fire Department. “We’ve had to take a lot more precautions in what we do. We follow the CDC guidelines and we’ve had good success at not having a lot of our people contract the virus. We’ve never had to go to any of our emergency plans.” At the beginning of the emergency, the BTFD set up plans for staffing dropped to 70% or even 60%. At the most, though, the department had a couple of instances when there were two or three people off. When responding to calls, the firefighters
responded with the emergency medical service, and tried to use as few people as possible, Thompson said. “Obviously, when we needed the whole crew, we sent it, but when we get to the door and they don’t need everyone, then we don’t send them in,” he said. “Those kinds of precautions have kept the spread down. And EMS has carried the heavier load during this because they are the ones who transport [the patients].” Call volume for the fire department increased 16% in 2020 over the numbers in 2019. Thompson said the increase wasn’t in medical calls for COVID so much as it was attributed to the growth in the area. “Early on, we actually saw a dip in the call volume because people were staying home, and people were hesitant about calling for service, because people were confused and really didn’t want to have contact with anyone,” said Thompson. “And then the spikes hit. The first one was last summer and then one after Christmas and New Year’s, and lot of the calls that came in were what we call ‘positive address.’” Once screening began, and reports were compiled by the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, DHEC was able to send to the various emergen-
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GWYNETH J. SAUNDERS
Chris Weatherford shops at the Spirited Hand in Bluffton.
cy dispatchers the addresses, but not the names, of where a positive test was recorded, in effect prescreening the home ahead of any emergency call. As for the future, Thompson thinks we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. “But things we’ve learned, I think people
are going to hold on to some of these ideas. When we build any new stations, we’re going to be building smarter, with things like individual sleeping areas to cut down on the chance of a spread,” he said. “I think everybody has a much better awareness
Please see COVID on page 8A