CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Fire Chief Freddy Montgomery has released a statement through Clarksville Fire Rescue’s Twitter urging citizens to cooperate with COVID-19 prescreening questions when making a 911 call.

In order to ensure the health and safety of first responders throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, 911 dispatchers have begun asking some prescreening questions to establish if the individual may have been exposed to coronavirus. This allows first responders to be better prepared upon arrival with appropriate PPE.

Chief Montgomery on Friday stressed that, regardless of how a person answers these questions, Clarksville’s first responders will answer the call.

“We are finding that people have become reluctant to answer those questions because they think that they won’t get the service they need. We are just trying to address those concerns and let everybody know that we will respond no matter what the call is. We are prepared. We are equipped. We just want the opportunity to prepare our first responders so that we are not walking in blind and are protected.”

Montgomery further stressed that exposure does not just put first responders at risk, but the community at large.

“We risk coming back to the station and exposing those people and having quarantine issues. We could very easily, if we are exposed, lose a large group of people that respond to a call, and that’s police and EMS, and everybody that responds to assist us. We are trying to minimize that,” said Montgomery.

“If we have 10 people exposed at the main station, that shuts the station down until we can clean that station and disinfect it. That crew goes home for the determined amount of time for quarantine. If we can prevent it going in, it is better for the entire community. Not just us.”

While some CFS firefighters have had to self-quarantine, Montgomery says they did so out of an abundance of caution and not due to any issues of exposure while on the job.