Rep. Mike Mueller said first responders need to be protected from the coronavirus when entering homes. | Rep. Mike Mueller / Facebook
Rep. Mike Mueller said first responders need to be protected from the coronavirus when entering homes. | Rep. Mike Mueller / Facebook
Michigan Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Fenton Township) is urging health departments to protect the health and safety of local first responders by updating their practices.
In letters to county health departments, Mueller is urging them to update practices to keep first responders safe when entering homes. Disclosing health information to first responders will allow them to know when they are entering the home of a resident who has been confirmed with COVID-19. This would allow them to protect themselves before entering.
“First responders are on the frontlines of this pandemic, and we can look to Wayne County and the city of Detroit to see the devastation COVID-19 has caused,” Mueller said in a statement. “We cannot afford to let this happen in other counties across the state.”
Mueller, a former deputy, spoke with Sheriff Mike Murphy of Livingston County, who said officers are working with the health officials to keep first responders safe.
“This was standard practice when I was a deputy,” Mueller said in a press release. “We were made aware of individuals with certain ailments when responding to emergencies and it allowed us to be properly prepared.”
Other lawmakers agree with Mueller. Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (D-Detroit) said many officers are testing positive to COVID-19.
“All first responders deserve a fighting chance while they are sacrificing their lives, and the lives of their families serving our communities. Providing them with this information is the least we can do when many of them are still working around the clock without the protective gear needed to prevent contracting this deadly disease," Gay-Dagnogo said in the release. “Our individual right to privacy will not be impeded upon, as this information simply serves as an indicator to proceed with caution."
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack also supports Mueller and said she is working with state representatives to provide solutions to the problem.
“Protecting our first responders is a priority,” McCormack said in the release. “They can’t work at home–instead they are risking their own health and safety and that of their families every day. I am grateful for Representative Mueller and Attorney General Nessel’s work on this important issue.”
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