HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico County is urging the public to only call 911 during life-threatening emergencies as first responders deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Henrico is committed to protecting the health and safety of our community during this unprecedented event,” Fire Chief Alec Oughton said. “We ask the public to help us by calling 911 only for life-threatening emergencies and to remain patient, as we have modified some of our response protocols to protect the community and our public safety workers as well as to limit our use of personal protective equipment to times they are truly needed.”

If you do call 911, you should expect more questions than normal. Emergency dispatchers will aks you questions to make sure the caller and first responders will stay healthy when responding.

If you call 911 for a situation that isn’t immediately life-threatening, you might then get a call from a nurse or EMT. They will talk to you about if you really need a first responder or if your situation can be solved by calling your primary care physician.

Once first responders arrive you might only be greeted by one of them to limit person-to-person contact.

If at all possible, Henrico County wants you to meet first responders at your front door or at the ambulance. This is to protect your home and yourself from the spread of COVID-19.