LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)– Some jobs can’t stop because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and that includes emergency first responders.
Those workers say they’re using tried and true techniques and stepping up their efforts to keep people safe from all diseases.
Medstar ambulance crews say their main goal is to keep equipment and ambulances clean no matter what. The standard practice for each crews has always been to disinfect ambulances and equipment after every call they respond to.
They also use special ultraviolet lights to disinfect the back of every ambulance at the end of every shift. The cycle takes about two hours and kills all viruses in the entire cabin.
With the added risk of responding to potential COVID-19 cases, crews decided to use these measures multiple times a day.
“Any time there is a potential patient or a potential of a virus contaminating the inside of service, not just coronavirus but any virus, we’ve escalated our efforts,” says Kevin Wilkinson, Director of Operations. “And we decontaminate the ambulance as we normally would at the hospital, the crews using the normal disinfectants. And then we bring the ambulance back to the station and we use the ultraviolet light, which is known to kill every single virus that we’ve come into.”
Sending the ambulances to be cleaned more often does take more time, but the crews say it’s the best choice for their safety and the safety of the people they serve.
