First responders salute front-line medical workers at St. Anthony with sirens and flashing lights

With lights flashing, a long line of police, fire and sheriff’s vehicles paraded past St. Anthony Hospital on Saturday in a show of support for front-line medical workers.

St. Anthony has been caring for a number of COVID-19 patients — the hospital won’t reveal the exact number — and the staff have been working long hours under stressful conditions.

“First responders, firefighters and cops, we get a lot of attention, especially when a crisis comes up,” said Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelley Busey. “This is a different type of crisis. The people truly on the front lines are the medical staff. It’s our way to show our support to them, as they are facing crazy circumstances.”

Mary Ragsdale, the hospital’s chief operating officer, said the feeling is mutual.

“They are unsung heroes, too,” she said of the first-responders. “We are proud of each and every one of them.”

Participating units came from Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One, South Kitsap fire and rescue, Key Peninsula Fire, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Bremerton Police Department, Port Orchard Police Department, and Gig Harbor Police Department.

“It lasted maybe ten minutes,” Busey said. “We came in and did one full lap around the hospital, then we came back in with just lights. The officers got out and saluted the workers inside. We showed support.”

Holding up under stress

Ragsdale said the hospital’s front-line medical workers are “holding up very well and being collaborative and working together.”

The hospital has converted many of its 112 patient rooms to “negative air-flow” rooms to restrict circulation of the virus where COVID-19 patients are being treated. Because it is a newer facility — it opened in 2010 — its airflow system allows that flexibility, Ragsdale said.

The postponing of most elective surgery has also allowed rooms on the hospital’s fifth floor, normally the surgery ward, to be converted for general hospital use.

The staff have between 14 and 20 days supply of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gowns, and are practicing “very strict conservation,” Ragsdale said.

Visitors are being limited, but coronavirus patients are being kept connected to their families by telephone, Skype, Facetime or other digital means, she said.

Numbers are secret

St. Anthony’s is part of an eight-hospital system run by CHI Franciscan, which has acknowledged having 117 confirmed coronavirus cases system-wide. But Ragsdale declined to say how many were at the Gig Harbor hospital.

“At this time we’re not sharing that information,” she said.

As of Monday, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department listed 44 confirmed coronavirus cases in the Gig Harbor area, which includes the Key Peninsula. So far, there have been no local deaths.

Countywide, there have been 931 reported cases and 20 deaths.

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 12:00 AM.