Skip to main content Skip to navigation within this section
Search
  1. Home
  2. COVID-19
  3. Resources
  4. Medical response
  5. Treatment of patients

Treatment of patients

CPR

Following a recommendation from St John and Wellington Free Ambulance, Fire and Emergency have agreed to changes to the clinical guidelines for CPR, depending on the Alert Level.

Universal precautions

The usual precautions you would have taken for medical response before the pandemic began will help keep you safe.

  • treat all persons or contact as infectious
  • cover all cuts or abrasions with a waterproof plaster or dressing when on duty
  • wear appropriate PPE for the task
  • careful handling or care with high risk or contaminated objects
  • supply and use of washing facilities following the completion of the task
  • cleaning schedule for high risk or contaminated equipment
  • appropriate disposal of disposable PPE and/or equipment
  • maintain recommended hygiene practices before, during and after task.

Use of masks on patients

  • In CPF settings Green or Orange - The patient should wear a mask whenever feasible, over an oxygen mask/nasal prongs if required.
  • In CPF settings Red or Local Lockdown - Place a mask on all patients with any form of breathing problem if feasible, over an oxygen mask/nasal prongs if required.

Updated St John Field Guide

St John have released an updated version of the field guide app(external link) normally used for medical first responders and have advised medical co-responders are welcome to download and use it as well.

Once downloaded to your phone, you will need to do an update to ensure you have the latest version. Click on the big tick at the bottom of the screen, click "Patient checklist (COVID-19)" then click “read updates on the wiki”. This app is updated regularly and will prompt you to download the latest version at startup.

Please note: The wiki content contains an 0800-phone number for the St John Operations support centre, this number is for the support of St John personnel only.

All Fire and Emergency operational contact with St John MUST be via 0800 111 HELP

Handover to ambulance

If you suspect that your patient may have COVID-19, you must provide this information as part of the hand-over to Ambulance.

Aerosol-generating procedures

Aerosol-generating procedures, such as nebulising medicines or suctioning, should only be undertaken following the recommendation from the clinical desk to do this.

Last modified: