A Chester County cop was exposed to coronavirus. A ‘first responder refuge’ helps him quarantine safely.

Patrolman John Freas wasn’t thinking about the coronavirus March 19 when he received a 911 call to help an elderly man who was unresponsive. He had been told the 71-year-old had a history of heart issues, and he sprang into action.

But when the officer from Birmingham Township, Chester County, got to the man’s home, he found him alert and awake. And coughing.

The next morning, hospital officials told Freas the man had tested positive for the pandemic sweeping the globe. They told Freas to self-quarantine at home, the same one he shared with his wife, where they would often watch their two granddaughters.

So Freas, 64, made some calls. Hours later, he became the inaugural resident at the “first responder refuge” that Delaware County officials created at the Glen Mills Schools campus. For eight days, and with six more to go, Freas has lived inside a converted dorm room at the shuttered reform academy so as not to risk infecting his family.

“It comes to a point where you say, 'What do I need to do to keep my family safe?’ ” Freas said in an interview Saturday. “And if this is it, I’ll come here and quarantine for 14 days.”

The Glen Mills Schools, closed last year by the state after an investigation into reports of student abuse, has become a hive of activity in recent weeks. Delaware County officials established an emergency operations center there with the help of their volunteer medical reserve corps, and were given the green light by the federal government on Thursday to turn two of its buildings into a medical support facility that area hospitals can use to free up beds for coronavirus patients.

Members of the medical reserve corps developed the plans for the refuge, designing it as another way to help reduce the spread of the virus and put police, fire, and emergency medical personnel at ease as they continue their work, according to Timothy Boyce, the head of Delaware County’s Department of Emergency Services.

“Our volunteers stepped up and created a program that would’ve taken years and dozens of committees,” Boyce said. “They finished it in days, with a commonsense approach that really meets our needs.”

Freas’ room came equipped with a laptop and private bathroom. He came prepared with his iPad, and the WiFi network already in place at the school helps him pass the time with Netflix, he said.

Meals and snacks are provided: When he got a craving for coffee, a cup from Dunkin’ Donuts was delivered to his door, and a coffee machine arrived soon after, he said.

Nurses visit him regularly to take his temperature — as of Saturday, he’s gotten a clean bill of health. At nearly 800 acres, Glen Mills’ campus has plenty of room to walk around, and Freas is able to have his wife visit, so long as he wears a mask and obeys the rules of social distancing.

“I can’t applaud them enough. It’s a place where you can go and be safe and not endanger your family,” Freas said. “This is a great place. It’s really taken the stress and worry out of this for me.”

Boyce said the refuge has also put county officials’ minds at ease as they continue to respond to a crisis with no clear endpoint.

“I’m glad the officers are protecting themselves and have that comfort zone," he said. "To know they have a place where they feel safe with their families is one gem for this awful situation we find ourselves in.”