IN Firefighter, Essential Workers Talk with Biden about COVID

Editor's note: Find Firehouse.com's complete coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

An Indiana firefighter was one of three essential workers who talked with President-elect Joe Biden about the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this week.

Anthony Murray, the president of Hamilton County firefighters union, was joined by other emergency workers to discuss their experiences dealing with the virus. The participants voiced concerns about what firefighters, paramedics, nurses and other health care professionals are facing on the front lines, from PPE scarcity to the threat of layoffs and pay cuts.

"We'll always find a way to do our job," Murray said. "And we'll never ask a question, we'll just do it. That's what we do. We go and answer the call and take care of the emergency, take care of the person. This is a humanitarian effort every day, 365, that's the work that we do. But I think that those two things go hand in hand, is that fear of transmitting to family, but also having to just push all of these feelings down, because you got to get up and go the next day." 

Mary Turner, a Minnesota intensive care unit nurse, described seeing COVID-19 claim the lives of patients who were not able to spend their last moments with their loved ones. Despite working in a profession in which she faced exposure to the virus, Turner said she had yet to be tested for it.

Biden expressed surprise at Turner's tearful revelation, pledging that his administration will work with state and local governments to get a handle on the pandemic and that essential workers will be supported.

“It’s not enough to praise you. We have to protect you, we have to pay you,” Biden said.

Go to Facebook to watch the full COVID-19 roundtable with Joe Biden.