Delta fire says they are responding well to the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an update with the Optimist on Monday, fire Chief Paul Schofield said the department started preparations for the possible pandemic in January.
“It’s been a challenging time and one in which we have had to adjust and adapt sometimes on a daily basis,” said Schofield. “Back in January we heard about these COVID-19 issues outside of Canada, so we thought we need to get prepared ourselves, so we stocked up on our PPE.”
He said for their staff at the beginning of the pandemic, it was a lot of unknowns.
“Things were changing so fast in creating these guidelines and then literally the next day they would be obsolete,” he said. “It was a crazy time initially. Things have settled down a bit now.”
He said communication within their staff has been key.
“We created a COVID-19 team of management and our union to try and anticipate issues coming from our staff and that has worked very well. It’s been a really cooperative team within our staff,” said Schofield. “Some of the ideas they have come up with have been great and well received. We do health checks at the beginning of each shift, so before the start of the shift before they step foot into the fire hall their temperature is checked, there is a questionnaire to ensure they are not showing any symptoms and then they can come in and start their shift. There has also been a lot of deep cleaning of the fire halls, equipment etc. – it really has just been a bit different than normal.”
Schofield said call volume here in Delta has decreased significantly in the past month.
“Call volumes have changed dramatically,” he said. “As of March 31 the provincial health officer restricted our attendance at medical events to just attending cardiac-type events, so that has seen a huge drop in calls we have gone too. We have seen a rise in back-yard burning complaints, but there is not as much traffic on the roads, so the number of motor vehicle accidents have dropped off significantly, for the most part, the drop in calls has been significant.”
He said the department is healthy and none of their members have contracted COVID-19.
“We are asking questions on every call and treat them like they have symptoms before we do the full assessment,” he said. “No cases of COVID-19 amongst our staff. Initially we had a lot of people off with signs of symptoms, but we’ve had a lot tested and all came back negative.”
He said overall, the department is working well and in a cooperative effort with all of Delta’s first responders.
“I think our staff are doing really well considering the unknowns of all this. They have adapted very well to the changes we have had to implement. It’s been really well handled. I’m proud of our staff,” he said. “Like everywhere else in the world this is unprecedented so everyone has to adapt and change on the fly.”
