WA COVID-19 Spotlight

Taking the tests to the community

Douglas County Fire District 4’s COVID-19 test distribution program, led by Chief Jim Oatey and Tara Cunningham, DCFD4 Administrator, is a proactive, relentless, community-centric operation. Located in the community of Orondo, DCFD4 is bringing at-home COVID-19 testing to the community through events, partnerships with local businesses and fruit stands, collaborations with local apple packaging plants, and just sheer perseverance.  

The people of Orondo and the surrounding area are no strangers to perseverance – history and geography have forced them to be resilient. The town was founded in the 1880s along the banks of the Columbia River, but had to relocate in the 1960s when construction of the Rocky Reach Dam created Entiat Lake, inundating the Orondo ferry landing and town. The new town never quite stuck though, and now the “town” is simply a Post Office, an elementary school, and a flurry of fruit stands along the edges of U.S. Highway 97. 

The town itself might be sparse, but the community is strong. And you can see the strength of the community at the annual Halloween carnival, at 4th of July events, and at numerous other community gatherings throughout the year. But you won’t necessarily see people milling around a town center, since there isn’t one. And that creates unique challenges for the DCFD4 team’s free at-home COVID-19 test distribution program.

Without regular foot traffic bringing people by the fire station, DCFD4 has to proactively take the tests to the people.

Of course, DCFD4 firefighters leave tests behind on calls. While patients usually have greater concerns during the response, they have a new resource to help manage their health once they’re home. But the team knows there’s a greater need for at-home COVID-19 testing access in the community, and they’re actively looking for more ways to meet that need.

“Finding places to distribute the tests has been a challenge since we don’t have a central location to distribute them,” explains Tara. But she’s getting the word out to local businesses, spending time explaining the program and the benefits, and leaving the tests in the most accessible businesses and locations. 

“We are putting tests in places where people come and go. We have a lot of fruit stands in the area, so we have tests there. We’ve distributed tests to the school. We’ve distributed them to the senior center in Chelan. We’re trying to get them out to places to make them accessible to everyone.”

DCFD4 volunteer firefighters were at the Halloween Carnival in October, explaining the program, distributing tests, and encouraging people to share with friends and family. “When a person takes a box, we encourage them to take another for a friend or family member,” explains Tara. And it was easy to give tests out that night, as Chief Oatey explains, “As we transition from a time of year where people spend most of their time outside, to spending most of their time inside, and as cold, flu and COVID cases increase, people want to know more about what they have – and will need to have access to COVID tests.” DCFD4 distributed almost an entire case of 850 tests and only had three boxes left at the end of the night. As we come into the cold and flu season, the public is more aware of the need for testing, but the channels to access tests are more limited – so having tests readily available was a big success at the Halloween Carnival. 

Distributing tests at the 4th of July event wasn’t as easy since people weren’t focused on colds, flu and COVID at the time. However, DCFD4 used that event as an opportunity to educate and share information. And they also tested on the spot – and were able to provide needed transport and care to a community member. Chief Oatey explains, “We had one guy come up to our table and say: Hey, I don’t feel well. I think I have COVID. The team encouraged him to test on the spot, it came back positive, and they took him to the hospital for care. We didn’t give out as many tests as we wanted to at that event – but it was a good opportunity to educate people that COVID is still out there.”

Chief Oatey first learned about the WA COVID-19 program during the Fire Chiefs meeting in Wenatchee in May 2023. He was intrigued because, like many of the Fire Chiefs in Washington, he saw the COVID-19 at-home test distribution program as another tool to engage with and support his community.

“Access to free testing is just another tool to engage with community members in different ways.”  

Chief Oatey

Now hotels, small businesses, and large businesses in Orondo and surrounding communities can get access to free testing for staff. Building these relationships and normalizing at-home COVID-19 test distribution through local businesses is the result of relentless communication and outreach efforts by the DCFD4 team. 

Because of the program, local businesses both inside and outside of Orondo are able to test staff and prevent the spread of COVID-19. A volunteer at the fire station, who also works directly with customers at a local retail store in Wenatchee, wasn’t feeling well. She tested, quickly found out she was COVID positive, and was able to stay home from work and isolate, limiting the spread of COVID. She was also able to provide tests to her co-workers. 

Additionally, of the three major apple packing companies in Orondo, one immediately collaborated and ordered tests for use in their in-house medical center. DCFD4 is communicating with another plant and working to establish communications with the third plant as well. As Chief notes, access to testing can make a big difference to the packers’ operations. “They can have 100 employees out with COVID if they’re not careful.” 

And the team is always on the lookout for ways to engage and support new businesses in the area. While traveling, Chief Oatey noticed a hotel receptionist was wearing a mask and asked if she and her team would be interested in receiving free COVID-19 tests. He did the same thing at the next hotel he stayed at and now both hotels are part of the testing pipeline that DCFD4 is working to build. 

Chief Oatey notes, “We’re trying to learn the pipeline. Once we reach out to people and get them tests and get them out there – what’s that pipeline look like?” DCFD4 has set a monthly goal to distribute 125 tests, and so far they’ve ordered 850 tests three different times in the last month. They are on track to exceed their distribution goals.  

The team at DCFD4 has faced some roadblocks along the way, both internally and externally, from folks who didn’t support testing or vaccination initiatives. However, Chief Oatey, provided education and insight, explaining, “We aren’t advocating for a specific treatment or telling you what you do. We’re just trying to provide a tool to give you knowledge about how your health is affecting you.”

Tara agreed. “Exactly. Even if you don’t want to get vaccinated, you want to be able to keep grandma safe, you want to be able to keep your sick neighbor safe. And that’s what testing can do.”

For other agencies who are interested in being proactive in their approach to test distribution, Chief Oatey and Tara encourage reaching out to local businesses, getting on the phone with community members, organizations and companies, and being in contact with as many people as possible. Chief Oatey says, “Spread the knowledge about the availability and the ease of the product. I don’t think all people understand that this is a product you can use at home. You don’t have to mail it in. You don’t have to wait four days or a week. You know within minutes at your own home if you have COVID or not.”

Distributing COVID-19 tests in Orondo and the surrounding areas isn’t always easy for the DCFD4 team, but the program is growing, driven by relentless persistence, and the team’s proactive, community-centric approach. And it’s a powerful example of the importance of community engagement, the results of consistent outreach, and the impact First Responders can have on their community when given the resources they need.