County Executive Meyer announces testing for NCC paramedics in partnership with Nemours Children’s Health System
New Castle, DE – New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and Nemours Children’s Health System announced a partnership that will allow members of New Castle County’s 130 person paramedics team to be tested for the COVID-19 virus. The first round of testing will take place May 6-8, a second round of testing will follow on May 12-14 and a third round will be May 19-21. These tests will be available to the paramedics on a voluntary basis.
The swabbing will be done orally rather than through the nose, similar to a throat culture procedure. In some of the paramedics, saliva samples will also be collected and compared to the oral swab, in order to validate if a saliva sample is reliable for future COVID-19 testing.
County paramedics had undergone finger-prick antibody testing last month.
“Our paramedics are protecting us,” said County Executive Meyer. “We have a responsibility to protect them. We also have an obligation to assure you that the medic responding to your call is virus free.”
“We are very pleased to partner with New Castle County and provide this important service to our invaluable first responders,” said Dr. Mary M. Lee, Enterprise Vice President and Nemours Physician in Chief for Delaware Valley Operations. “Keeping our front line staff safe and healthy is paramount to providing the highest quality care to our pediatric patients. And that includes the well-being of our paramedics and other community first responders.”
About New Castle County Paramedics
New Castle County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was the first paramedic service in the first state. New Castle County EMS is a multi-jurisdictional county municipal paramedic service covering the entire 437 square miles and over 552,778 residents of New Castle County. responding to over 36,000 incidents a year.
About Nemours Children’s Health System
Nemours is an internationally recognized children’s health system that owns and operates the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Fla., along with outpatient facilities in six states, delivering pediatric primary, specialty and urgent care. Nemours also powers the world’s most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, KidsHealth.org and offers on demand, online video patient visits through Nemours CareConnect.
Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to families in the communities it serves.
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