Answer:
Although prehospital CPAP has a proven mortality benefit in some disease processes, the COVID-19 pandemic represents an extenuating circumstance in which the usual care of the ALS-PCS is not clinically justified, possible or prudent. As such, the provincial Medical Advisory Committee has provided considerations for care to protect yourselves and the public to help limit spread of the virus. The OBHG MAC continues to monitor the current situation and treatment considerations, including the use of CPAP that balances provider and public safety with patient benefit. We will be sure to let you know when it is decided, provincially, to lift some of these procedural restrictions, including the use of CPAP.
You are correct (and highlighted in the most recent,4th iteration of the Considerations for Paramedics Managing Patients During the COVID-19 pandemic) that oxygen flow rates using a Non-Rebreather Mask (NRB) <16L/min are not considered an AGMP (here).