Fire commissioners approve testing

Point Roberts fire district commissioners unanimously approved moving $20,000 from their capital reserves into the annual budget to allow the department to keep testing all firefighters for Covid-19.

“It is an exceptional cost to our district when it comes to testing all of our members,” said chief Christopher Carleton at the August 8 virtual meeting of the fire district commissioners. “This was not planned for the 2020 budget.”

While the cost of Covid-19 testing for U.S. members with health insurance is covered by their insurance as required by the CARES Act, testing costs for uninsured members, including 26 Canadian firefighters who do not have U.S. health insurance, is being paid by the fire district. For each uninsured firefighter tested, the district pays $100 for laboratory costs and a $42 fee to SuperTrack for the services of Virginia Lester, a nurse practitioner and fire district commission chair who administers the tests.

Carleton said he would discuss the $42 fee with SuperTrack because the fire department hosts the testing and supplies PPE. “I’d like to see about getting that cost reduced or eliminated,” he said.

While the department initially tested members every two weeks, Carleton said they were currently testing monthly unless members exhibited symptoms or had come into contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. “We are the only district in the county taking this step,” he told commissioners, and invited them to discuss if they wanted it to continue given the cost to the district. He added that he was given the go-ahead by department lawyers to take capital reserve funds for testing purposes under the pandemic state of emergency.

All three commissioners supported continued testing of firefighters. “I think testing is absolutely critical,” said commissioner Raye Newman, emphasizing the important role played by Canadian firefighters in keeping the community safe and healthy.

Approval of the use of reserve funds in the 2020 budget for Covid-19 testing was unanimously approved.