This is among series of stories on Delta’s First Responders, a year after COVID-19 became a world-wide pandemic.
The fine line of continuing to provide emergency services for the city while ensuring it is done in a safe environment for all involved. That’s what the Delta Fire Department has accomplished over the past year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the support from Delta’s Human Resources and assistance from Delta’s Occupational Health specialist, our department has excelled in so many ways in response to this pandemic. The City of Delta, including mayor and council, have taken this challenge head on and supported our firefighters wherever needed to continue to perform their day to day operations,” explained deputy fire Chief Brad Wilson.
The department needed to hit the ground running during the early days of the pandemic. Delta Fire developed a COVID-19 Task Force Committee, comprised of deputy chiefs, Local 1763 executive members, as well delegates from the Occupation Health & Wellness Committee, Emergency Medical Responder instructors, and its training office.
“Through this committee we have been able to navigate our way by developing policies and procedures for our members to follow and combat all the challenges COVID-19 has posed to date,” continued Wilson. “‘Our ‘Boots on the Ground’ have taken direction from this committee and we are proud to say that we have prevented the spread of the virus from within our organization, and prevented patient transmission of the virus to our firefighters. Consequently, our apparatus have remained fully staffed with healthy firefighters ready to answer the next call.”
“Procuring the necessary PPE for the safety of our responding firefighters was a challenge at the start of the pandemic. Our members work in a family type setting, yet share their ‘work home’ with three other shifts. Keeping the fire halls safe for our firefighters meant developing decontamination and thorough cleaning protocols that changed the way our members live at work and how they negotiate their regular duties. At the same time, it is very important to realize the extra stresses this pandemic has put on our team. I am so proud of our firefighters for staying the course and continuing to do what they do best in keeping Delta safe.”
Even with last week’s news of BC’s First Responders being eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming weeks, Wilson doesn’t see a return to “normal” for the department anytime soon.
“As always, we will await advice from our health authority before we transition back to full normal operations both in and out of the fire hall.”
