COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose Booster doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are available to eligible Rhode Islanders as of Friday, September 24. This follows CDC’s recommendation to make booster doses of Pfizer vaccine available to certain people. For more information on eligibility, please see https://covid.ri.gov/boosterdoses. People who are eligible should get their booster doses at least six months after their second dose of Pfizer. We expect demand for Pfizer vaccine to be high through October given our very high vaccination rates. We encourage everyone to make an appointment to get vaccinated when possible. This will help Rhode Island be able to administer vaccines quickly and efficiently. You can find appointments at any of the options listed at C19VaccineRI.org. If you need help making an appointment, please call 844-930-1779 or 2-1-1.
EMS Providers Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers should be aware of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which was initially identified causing a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Infection has since spread to other parts of China and other countries, including the United States. For the latest information on Rhode Island specific COVID-19 numbers, see RIDOH's COVID-19 Disease Data webpage. Please consult the latest EMS provider advisories from CDC and RIDOH, as well as the UPDATED GUIDANCE FOR First Responders. Returning to Work Follow CDC’s Return to Work Criteria for EMS provider with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19. EMS providers who have no symptoms with COVID-19 may return to work after these three things have happened: You have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and Symptoms have improved and If you tested positive, at least 10 days have passed If the EMS provider tested positive and never had symptoms, they must wait 10 days after the first positive test before returning to work. Except for rare situations, a test-based strategy is no longer recommended to decide when to end isolation. Conserving PPE Personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators (like N95s), facemasks (such as surgical masks), face shields and other eye protection, gowns, and gloves, are in short supply in Rhode Island and across the United States. At this time, we are exploring every opportunity available to obtain additional PPE. However, until the time that appropriate PPE is available, we provide guidance on the prioritization and conservation of PPE. Educational videos on PPE produced by the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team (RI-DMAT): Safe Re-use of the N-95 Mask Wearing and Removing Personal Protective Equipment in a COVID-19 Environment EMS Protocols COVID Related Amended EMS Protocols Statewide Emergency Medical Services Protocols (2019) Statewide Emergency Medical Services Protocols (mobile version) (2019) EMS Advisories for COVID-19 EMS Advisories Advisory 2020.01 – Interim Guidance about Novel Coronavirus – 2019-nCoV Advisory 2020.01.2 - Interim Guidance about Novel Coronavirus – 2019-nCoV Update Advisory 2020.02 – Updated Interim EMS Guidance about COVID-19 Advisory 2020.03 – COVID-19 RI CEMS Guidance for EMS Advisory 2020.04 – COVID-19 Transporting Family Members Advisory 2020.05 – COVID-19 Mandatory Exchange List Advisory 2020.06 – COVID-19 EMS Practitioner Daily Illness Screening Advisory 2020.07 – COVID-19 EMS Practitioner Monitoring and Restrictions Recommendations Advisory 2020.08 – COVID 19 EMS Assessment without Transport Advisory 2020.09 – COVID 19 EMS Screening Flow Advisory 2020.10 – COVID-19 Related Protocol Changes Advisory 2020.11 – COVID-19 Related Licensing Changes Advisory 2020.12 – COVID-19 EMS Work Restrictions Q & A Publications and resources for EMS Providers Factsheets Inglés Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) PDF file Guidelines Inglés Statement on Antibody-Based COVID-19 Testing PDF file Guides Inglés EMS COVID Screening Flow PDF file Video Inglés Safe Re-use of the N-95 Mask Web page Wearing and Removing Personal Protective Equipment in a Covid-19 Environment Web page You need javascript enabled to view this content or go to source URL.
