Don’t scream fire in a crowded theater and don’t say Ebola out loud — especially if you’re a 911 responder in NYC.
An internal memo was sent out yesterday and city officials are so worried about a potential city-wide freakout, the FDNY isn’t allowed to even utter the term over the radio. The memo instructs all personnel to use vague terms when discussing the possibility of the deadly disease hitting the Big Apple.
“At no point shall a dispatcher transmit over the radio any message containing the word ‘Ebola’ or related terminology,” according to the advisory, which was obtained by The Post.
Dispatchers instead must use the code letters “F/T,” as in Fever/Travel, to indicate that a 911 caller has a fever and a history of travel to West Africa. “Engine XXX, utilize Universal Precautions — you are responding to a Fever/Travel incident,” dispatchers are now ordered to say.
I’ve never been an EMT or first responder but is using “vague terms” ever a smart idea in an emergency? Is that moment really the time to test radio charades?
It’s also kind of crazy that the first questions EMTs ask now isn’t “what’s the problem?” but “what other countries have you been to lately?”
H/T Animal NY