SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has impacted every community in Nebraska.

Please note that this timeline will be reevaluated and could be extended.Based on the advice of local and state health officials, Scottsbluff Fire Department has decided to close the station to in-person visitors effective immediately through March 31st to protect the health, safety, and well-being of our community members and staff.

During this time, our community outreach programs have been suspended.

Some of the changes being made to limit our exposure to the public include the following:
- Station tours and public education events are all suspended
- Business Pre Plan Inspections are all suspended
- All CPR and Fire Prevention classes are suspended
- Smoke and CO Detector installations have been suspended
- Car Seat Installation Events are suspended

Their dedication to providing timely and professional emergency services to our community remains our highest priority.

As circumstances have changed over the past weeks and months, our staff has been busy monitoring the situation to remain fully informed of circumstances locally, regionally and state-wide.

They will continue to regularly monitor this evolving situation and will determine when our facility can again receive visitors.

Rest assured that during this time our dedicated firefighters will remain on duty to respond to all calls for service.

That being said, the way we respond to calls moving forward is going to look different than it has in the past.

SFD’s priority has always been to ensure the safety of every patient and the crews.

In order to ensure this level of safety, our crews need to be proactive in our universal precautions.

In an effort to ensure all our patients and staff have limited exposure to viruses and infectious diseases; we approach each medial call in a systematic and calculated manner.

It all starts when someone calls 911.

Dispatchers at the Scotts Bluff County Communication Center will be asking callers a series of questions: Do you have a fever? Have you traveled outside the county in the past 30 days? Are you experiencing any respiratory issues: cough, shortness of breath or any other respiratory problem?

The information obtained by dispatchers will be shared with our responders before arrival.

This allows us to determine the best way to limit exposure to everyone.
This will mean limiting the number of our personnel we send into your house, extra layers of personal protective gear our responders will put on themselves or on the patient, and the decision whether it is safer to transport the patient to the hospital, or if contacting their Primary Care Physician’s office would be the best option.

The less interaction sick people have with others helps keep all diseases from spreading. Non-life threatening illnesses and conditions do not always require transport to the hospital by ambulance.

While our facility will be closed to the public, our staff will be available to answer any questions via phone (308) 630-6231.

They will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of the Federal and State health officials on best practices to care for our patients and our responders.

They ask that you also follow the recommendations of those officials to minimize spread and to keep yourself healthy.