Chief calls for more information from county

Point Roberts fire chief Christopher Carleton is calling for more information from the county about individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19. In a March 26 letter to Whatcom County councilmembers, the chief wrote that “protocols, methods, and expectations must shift quickly and radically to allow for protective and defensive actions that, in ordinary times, would be outside established boundaries.”

Carleton is asking that his department be advised when someone in Point Roberts has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in self-isolation at home. Currently, the Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD) does not provide that information to fire districts although it does to Whatcomm 911, the service that handles emergency calls in the county. WCHD has cited the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as the reason behind their refusal to release information.

Carleton wrote “that it is critical that first responders be allowed to know when they are being sent into contact with a known COVID patient” as it would allow the district to deploy fewer personnel. It would also allow the district to know which households need to be “self-isolating in order to provide them the support to succeed.”

Chief Carleton reminded county council that his department is well-versed in protecting personal health information but that they needed the information in order to protect members of the community from unintentional exposure. “We will face very dire consequences if our limited personnel are stricken and their comrades placed under quarantine,” he wrote.

As of April 1, Carleton had not received a reply from council. County council acts as the Whatcom County Board of Health.